A/n: Well isn't this something...LOL it's been decades since I've last updated this story but you know....school tends to do that to you. Plus I was stuck on this chapter for so long. JSYK, it's a bit uneventful but we gotta have those in the story for it to make sense. Bear with me, it'll get more interesting later :)

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By the time they I got back to the hotel, I was drained from doing all the odd jobs Eun Jung threw at me. Luckily, since I only just got hired, Eun Jung allowed me to leave early. I collapse onto the bed in our hotel room. Cat just laughs at me.

“Well…at least you got the job.”

“Now I’m gonna have to wake up at six in the morning to follow SHINee around…yay…” I said unenthusiastically. “Find anything while I was gone?”

“Nothing really…the Korean branch tells us they may have found another suspect involved but they’re not too sure. They’ll be monitoring him for now but if anything comes up, they’ll call us up to take him down.”

“And 63 Building?”

“Nothing suspicious as of yet…it seems like they’re being extra cautious right now.”

I sigh, “Yeah well for me, like I said earlier, I didn’t get a chance to go up the floor building to check things out. Hopefully I can do it soon now that I’m officially working for the coordinator of the company.”

“Alright. Business aside now…” Cat smirks, and I knew what was coming. “You uh…make any moves?”

“No I didn’t Cat.” I reply. “Key’s on to me, remember? It’s stupid that I should’ve changed my name on the resume.”

“Oh shoot that’s right!” Cat exclaims. “But I didn’t think you’d meet them again or they’d ever remember you.”

“Me either.” I sigh. “Well…it seems like most of them don’t remember me or shrug me off as someone else…I just have to be careful around Key.”

Cat nods and then decide that we should call it a night (since I had to be up and early anyways).

The next morning I didn’t even bother with a wig, I just neatly comb my hair and set out with the headset and a more laidback outfit. I arrive at the building just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. I go in through the front and greet Cho Hee. She informs me that Eun Jung would probably be upstairs with the boys in the dance studio (even gave me a few ‘simple’ directions). I thank her and then set out to find this dance studio…okay well not really. As soon as I heard that I would be needed upstairs I nearly smirk to myself sadistically at my chances.

I find the elevator and press the top floor, ignoring Cho Hee’s instructions that the dance studio is located on the second floor. I watch the doors slide close and then the small light indicator change from first floor to second then to third. I arrive with a chime and the doors slide open accordingly. I peer out curiously; a long red-carpeted hallway greets me. The walls were a beige cream like the rest of the building. There weren’t many doors this time but from as far as I could see, there were two glass ones that probably led to an office near the end on my right. On the opposite wall, there’s a section that opens up to lead down another branch. I suspect at the end of it, the big man’s office is there. I took a step out of the elevator and glance around for security cameras. I see one just ahead, rotating lazily away from me and no doubt heading back once it’s done its round. I take out my camera phone and snap a picture of where I am before quickly slinking over to the camera, sticking close to the walls.

I make it to stand underneath the camera, avoiding it. As it turns towards the direction the elevator lift is, I slink over to the left wall to peer around the corner to see if my suspicions were right. I move lightly in my black KED shoes, the carpet further muffle out any noise I would have made. I steady my breathing as I take a peak, snapping a quick picture. I was right; down the hall were double large, dark oak doors that probably lead to where I want to go. My eyes wander back behind me; no one seems to be in the two offices right now. My gaze then shifts over to the small window, the sun is a bit higher now; I’d have to make this quick so I wouldn’t get caught.

I turn, peer around the corner again; coast is clear. I slink down the hall but just as I was halfway down, one of the office door closest to the double ones creak open. I freeze in my place. I had the choice of running back quickly before the person steps out or I’ll just put on an innocent act and pretend I’m lost.

I straighten up and put up my best naïve face (if there is such thing). I decide that I would have to put on the innocent act anyways, so I might as well do it now. The person who steps out of the office is a man who looks like he’s around Derek’s age, if not maybe two years older at the most. He had dark hair that is slicked back; a strong but lithe build and is fairly tall. His pristine looking suit really highlighted this. You could say he’s quite the looker; a straight nose, defined jawline, and deep eyes. He makes eye contact with me, surprise written on his face before it changes to curiosity. I only blink back at him like a cat who’s stumbled upon something of their interest.

He walks over to me. “I’m sorry but what are you doing here? No child should be wandering up here on this floor.”

I look down almost bashfully and reply timidly. “Oh, I…didn’t realize this was an important office area…I was trying to find the dance studio…”

“Ah, I see. Are you new here?”

“Yes I am…I’m not too familiar with this building…”

“Don’t worry. The dance studio is on the second floor. Please ask someone if you’re unsure next time.”

I flash a smile. “Ah! Thank you sir! I promise I won’t do it again!”

He sighs and just shakes his head. “All right, all right. Now run along, you know where the elevator is?”

“Ah yes I do, I’ll be going now.” I bow deeply. “Thank you again!” Turning on my heels I scamper off to the elevator again. As soon as the doors slide close, my smile completely disappears in a second and is replaced by a scowl.

“Cobra.” I mutter, seemingly brushing my hair with my finger to adjust the earpiece. She should be awake by now…

“Yo. Sorry I just logged on; so what happened?”

“I tried getting up to the floor where Soo-Man’s office is. I found out where it was but I couldn’t get into it because one of the office employees up there stepped out at that moment. Must be the vice-president or advisor or something. His office was almost right outside the big boss’s.”

“I’ll look into it. Got any pictures?”

“Yeah you can go check them out now. If I can’t get into that office then we might just have to break-and-enter. Look at one of the pictures to see what I mean.”

“Gotcha, I’ll keep you updated on our end but other than that, good luck on your first day!”

“Thanks…”

The elevator signals its arrival to the second floor. I step out and walk down the hallway again, recalling in my mind Cho Hee’s directions. I eventually found it (and it’s kinda hard to miss the voices talking animatedly from that direction), in all its notorious, blue-sky-and-fluffy-cloud-background glory. Inside, I could faintly make out three figures. I push the studio door open and the talking pauses at my entry. I poke my head in and see Taemin sitting on the studio floor and Minho near the window. Standing off to the side is Eun Jung.

“Ah Hana-ssi!” Taemin exclaims, smiling brightly as usual.

“Ah, hello.” I say, bowing politely.

“There you are! We were starting to get worried. Why are you so late?” Eun Jung asks, already starting to interrogate me. Well, being late on the first official day of working, I wouldn’t blame her for getting angry. I bow again.

“I’m sorry…a slight emergency came up back at home…”

Eun Jung kisses her teeth with her hands on either side of her hips. “You better make up for it by using that insane driving skills of yours.”

I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a joke or if she’s being serious. I let out a slightly force laugh anyways and nod my head. Eun Jung starts to walk out of the studio and I start to follow. I feel the two boys following as well.

“So where are the other members?” I ask as we crowd into the elevator.

“They’re attending other schedules. We’ll meet up with them later.” Eun Jung replies. We head down to the main floor and go to exit the building. As we walk to the back entrance, we just so happen to run into Mr. fancy pants I met earlier.

“Hello, Lee Kang-Dae seonsagnim.” Everyone greets, bowing a full 90 degrees. I mimic their actions with a bit of a lag. He inclines his head in acknowledgement (even gives a friendly smile) but discreetly; I saw his eyes linger on me for a few more seconds before he turns to Eun Jung.

“Eun Jung ssi, hello. Thank you so much for working hard for the company and taking care of these boys.”

“Ne, thank you so much for working hard too.” Eun Jung says smiling also. The boys only nod and smile. I do too but I guess it came out a bit more force than I wanted to.

“Well continue to work hard then. I’m sure you’re as busy as I am. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye and good day!” Eun Jung, Taemin, and Minho said altogether (I swear it’s like they rehearse this or something). All I could do was incline my head like they did and continue to smile. We eventually went our separate ways and once again, I’m appointed as the chauffer.

Today Taemin and Minho are scheduled to host a radio show so that’s where we found ourselves in ten minutes tops (well traffic wasn’t as bad today). The boys went ahead into the studio while Eun Jung and I went off to get them and the rest of the radio staff something to eat.

“I’m so glad I hired someone like you.” Eun Jung remarks quite suddenly as we’re checking out at the cash register. I blink and nod my head, giving a small smile almost bashfully.

“As you probably already guessed, lots of girls came to me in hopes of snatching this job in hopes of being close to their idols, but all of them don’t focus on the tasks I give them and they were all pretty much unprepared for the amount of labour.”

“Ah…I see.” I said offhandedly. It really is a no brainer that that would happen. “Then what about students working towards to be in the field? I’m sure this job would’ve given them good experience…”

“They can’t afford to juggle work and school together. Plus, they rather much work on getting their diploma than risk dropping out and going nowhere after this. Not confident at all I say…”

I nod…well lucky me then. I continue to place items from the basket to the conveyor before noticing something.

“Ah, Eun Jung unnie…” I call to her.

“Yes?”

“You wouldn’t happen to get banana milk did you?”

She pauses and scans over our items. “No I don’t think I did…Ah! We should’ve since Taeminnie would probably want that.” She turns to me. “Can you quickly run and grab it? I’ll pay for these things first.”

I nod and turn on my heels, dashing off to drinks section. It took me almost no time to locate the beverage, grab it, and race back to Eun Jung. As I got back, she’s just placing the last item into the grocery bag. I hand the cashier the banana milk and she adds on the money. Eun Jung smiles at me as she pays.

“Thanks for reminding me! He would’ve been so sad if I forgot. That’s pretty funny that you would know about Taeminnie’s love for banana milk.”

I chuckle. “It’s pretty basic information to know if you’re familiar with SHINee.” She laughs a bit and gestures for me to grab a bag.

I grab a bag of food as does Eun Jung and we both exit the shop. We turn and proceed back to the radio station by foot since the walk isn’t that far.

“What are you studying to be Hana? Are you in college or university yet or are you just about to graduate?”

“Uhh…first year of university…I’m studying….” I hesitate: damn it what do you study that you need to go abroad for?! “Art history…” I say blandly. I’m such a genius.

“Wow so you like art huh? Key loves it too: have you seen some of his works?” Eun Jung says.

“No but I would love to.” I say, smiling. Psh, as if he’d let me.

We make it back to station and it looks like we got back just as break is starting. We place the bags of food on a table and everyone cheerfully thanks us as they took something out to snack on. Taemin and Minho bound over and of course, the younger of the two beams happily when his eyes landed on the banana milk. He immediately snatches it.

“Yay banana milk!”

I couldn’t help but smile at his enthusiasm. We’re the same age and yet he seems to be the younger between us.

“You have Hana to thank for that, I almost forgot.”

Taemin directs his eyes to me in surprise and for a second I didn’t know what to do. When I thought I would be the one to blush uncontrollably like a fool in this awkward situation, to my surprise, his cheeks start to slowly tint a shade of red. It’s even more noticeable since his skin is so fair.

“Uhm…T-Thank you.” I hear him mumble, inclining his head. I let out a nervous laugh, shaking my head a bit.

“No it’s nothing…I think everyone pretty much knows how much you like banana milk.”

His cheeks turn redder and he tries to cover it up by putting the back of his hand to his mouth as he laughs embarrassingly. The gesture made me smile a bit wider. Such a radiant person…

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Minho smile knowingly and give a shake of his head. The vibration of my phone interrupted my thoughts. I pull it out and quickly excuse myself as I exit the main radio room to the hallways of the main building. As soon as I come to a place where no one is around, my earpiece comes to life with the voice of Cat.

“I didn’t want to suddenly pop up and not give you cover to excuse yourself so I figured calling your phone would do it.”

“Thanks. What’s up?” I ask as I slide the lock on my touch screen to find a file folder. Probably must be from Cat.

“I did a little research on the vice-president of SM. Lee Kang-Dae right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well you’re right. He is the vice-president working directly under Soo Man. Basically this guy does most of the filing for the company and takes over whenever Soo Man is not around. Maybe he might be worth hacking into if getting into Soo Man’s office is not possible…actually never mind, he’s almost always in his office working save for the occasional coffee break, meetings, lunch breaks etc.”

I scroll through pictures and little notes in the folder as Cat talks. “He might be worth hacking into. If he handles most of the documents and files of the company then no doubt he’d probably have something for our case.”

“Well it’s your call; any information would be nice.”

The sound of movement startles me and I turn just in time to catch Eun Jung exit out the radio studio with Taemin and Minho in tow. It’s then I realize how long I actually took talking to Cat.

“Listen I gotta go now. I’ll talk to you later, keep me updated with anything.” I said hurriedly, placing the phone to my ear so that it looks like I was talking on the phone.

“Okay, will do.”

“Later.”

I made sure to save the files onto my phone before turning to face Eun Jung who’s approaching me.

“Sorry I had to take an important call.” I bow my head in apology. Eun Jun just waves her hand, dismissing it before telling me that we’re off to do a photo shoot. I nod, smiling at Taemin and Minho to acknowledge their presence. Taemin shyly smiles back while Minho nods his head.

When we make it to the studio, the rest of SHINee is already there. Taemin and Minho scurries off to get their hair and make up done as well as change clothes. Today is another pictorial shoot for a fashion magazine. Eun Jung goes to greet the staff members as well as say hi to the rest of SHINee. I follow after her to do the same. Jonghyun and Onew greet me kindly while Key smiles stiffly. He still doesn’t trust me I see. Oh well, as long as he doesn’t know what I do then it doesn’t matter. I ignore this detail and smile warmly at them. The shoot runs smoothly before the photographer suggests that everyone takes a short break.

“Eun Jung noona is it okay if we go to the café around the corner to grab something to eat?” Taemin asks.

“I can’t come with you Taeminnine, I have a small errand to run.” Eun Jung says apologetically as she’s getting ready to leave. “If you want, Hana can go with you and I’m sure Minho will want something since you two didn’t eat anything before coming here.” I blink but otherwise, nod and smile (wow I’ve been doing that a lot ever since I got this job…)

“Ah I’m so tired. Taeminnie can you go get me something and come back here?” Minho says and for emphasis he slouches back in the chair he’s sitting in and looks ‘tired’.

“We already ate so we’re fine.” Jonghyun says and Onew nods but then he looks towards the youngest.

“Or if you want we can tag along if—“

“I’ll come with you Tae—“

Key and Onew began to say but were immediately cut off by Minho and Jonghyun.

“Ah ah! There’s something we must show you. Taemin hurry along before we’re done break! Be safe!”

“Ah hyung!” Taemin whines.

“Go go! Hurry! I’m hungry!” Minho shoos. I glance at Taemin who looks on helplessly as Minho and Jonghyun drag a struggling Key and a confused Onew away. He suddenly seems nervous and fidgety and I could only suspect one thing: I’ve just been set up on a ‘date’. Minho and Jonghyun are not very subtle people. I sigh, rolling my eyes at my predicament but hey, my inner fangirl isn’t complaining.

“Guess we should head out?” I ask, looking up at him. The blonde turns to me as if he forgotten I was still there.

“Ah yeah, we should.” He begins to walk stiffly to the exit and I follow after him. Since I didn’t know which café he was talking about, I let him lead the way. All the while, the walk is very awkward. I inwardly sigh to myself; now I know I’m not supposed to be getting friendly on the job with people I’ll probably never see again but this awkwardness is just too ridiculous. Just as I’m about to make an attempt at breaking the ice, Taemin beat me to it.

“Uhm..Hana-ssi…” He starts, his voice soft and visibly nervous.

“You know you don’t have to be so formal with me. We’re the same age.” I remark and I made a point to smile at him in hopes of getting him to be comfortable. “Plus I’m not used to the formalities that goes on here so I don’t mind.”

He smiles. “Ah, okay…I guess we should talk as friends then.”

I nod and I feel the air around us get lighter.

“So where are you from if you’re studying abroad here?” He asks before making a gesture towards this small cafe (guess this was it). He holds the door open for me and I thank him, waiting for him to enter before answering his question.

“I’m from Canada actually.”

“Wow! So far…” He says, a look of wonder crossing his face. I smile and nod in agreement. We continue talking about other mundane things: about each other, the world, etc. as we stand in line to order drinks and take out for Minho. I beat him to pay for the bill so he made it a goal to pout and sulk at me for doing such a thing, but eventually he forgot about it after I insisted it’s okay for what felt like a million times.

Gradually, I feel him warm up and I found myself enjoying our little outing. Getting to actually know him in person is a nice feeling compared to what I see on TV. But to me, he didn’t seem all that different: still shy, innocent, really cheerful and bright. His smiles and laughs are contagious and his eyes smiles were just as adorable. Despite his innocent appearance, he has such an underlying passion for what he does and it surfaces sometimes. No doubt he also had the ability to switch personas: cute and innocent one moment, y and seductive the next. It amazes me but at the same time I think that it’s not hard for a person to have two sides (I mean, look at me for instance).

He laughs at a story I told him as we sit at a table for two in the café. We decided to take our time with this and just get to know each other. I chuckle at him as he regains his composure.

“You’re really funny Hana.” He says. “I wish I could be just as funny. It’s like I have Onew condition whenever I try to be funny but when I don’t try, everyone says I’m funny.”

I laugh. “It’s better to be naturally funny than trying too hard, and I think that’s more charming.”

I see his cheeks tint pink but he doesn’t acknowledge it as he nods and smiles at me. Thanks to that, my cheeks start to match his. Ah Michelle, stop acting like this! I clear my throat and glance at the clock.

“Ah we should get back.” I point out, making a move to stand.

“Wow, time went by quickly…” Taemin says as he also stands, holding the bag with our order and his drink in hand. I take mine as well and nod in agreement.

“Yeah. Hope we don’t get in trouble…”

“Ah Hana…”

“Hm?” I was just about to take a step towards the exit when Taemin spoke up. He glances away from me for a brief second before letting his eyes fall on me again.

“Do you wanna exchange numbers? You know, just…to keep in touch…? If you want to I mean…”

Even though I knew where this is going, I couldn’t help but smile at his nervousness and really, who can say no to him?

“Of course, I’d love to Taemin…”

He flashes a pearly white smile at me and takes out his cellphone. I go to pull mine out too but then I pause. I still had the files Cat sent to me on this phone…It wouldn’t hurt to right? I feel conflicted.

“Hana…?”

Taemin’s voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I glance up, meeting his questioning eyes. I flash him an assuring smile.

“Sorry just thinking about something: here.” I set my phone up to the dial pad before handing it to him. He does the same for his and we exchange numbers. When we hand our cellphones back to each other, we head out of the café. What caught me by surprise is the small group of fangirls that were waiting, armed with cellphones. Taemin unknowingly becomes stiff and he darts off in the direction of the studio, dragging me along by the sleeve of my cardigan. I don’t say a word as we fast walk all the way back to the studio and make it safely back despite the fans having followed us. When we were in the building, Taemin gives out a sigh.

“Sorry about that…I just didn’t want them to cause you trouble since you’re new and all…”

“It’s okay I understand.” I smile. He returns it with his own. At that moment, I couldn’t help but glance down at the hand that was still gripping onto the fabric of my cardigan. Taemin notices afterwards and promptly lets go, clearing his throat.

“Let’s get back before they start questioning us.” He says.

I highly doubt we can avoid it anyways since after all, they are the ones who set us up (minus Key and Onew). Don’t know if he’s aware of it but I’m pretty sure he should be…

We make it back to the studio and like I predicted, the rest of the SHINee members rush up to us and bombards us with questions. Key didn’t restrain himself from doing such thing but he mainly directed most of his questions to Taemin. He just gives me suspicious looks like usual. Jonghyun is pretty much disappointed at how boring the report is and eventually they left us alone.

The rest of the day’s schedule went by in a blur for me so soon I found myself bidding Eun Jung goodbye as she drops me off at the SM building. I begin my trek back to the hotel and as I pass by a garbage disposal, I had to stop myself from throwing away my phone like I usually do. This is probably a bad decision on my behalf but…I just couldn’t find the heart to throw it out…

I glance around, my arm still in mid-air from throwing away the mobile. The streets were near empty and as far as I could tell, I had moved far enough from the large company building to avoid any outdoor cameras. I take a deep breath and quickly pocket my cellphone again before briskly continuing on my way to the hotel.