Taemin~

Taemin laid Naeun down gently on her bed, where Sulli and Suzy were staring at him with wide eyes.

“Aren’t you . . . Lee Taemin?” Suzy purred, sitting slowly on her bottom bunk. Taemin sighed and moved his fringe out of his eyes. She obviously knew it was him.

“You guys want to move into my room tonight and share my top bunk?” Taemin replied instead of answering her. “I room with Seung-hyun and  Ji Yong.” (T.O.P. and G Dragon) They simply gave him confused looks. "Minho's next door."

“What?! Are you serious?!” Sulli gasped, jumping up. She took Suzy’s hand and immediately tossed as many things as she could into an expensive-looking purse. “Hurry up! Before he changes his mind!” The two girls raced out of the cabin. Taemin shook his head and turned back to Naeun.

“They didn’t even ask what happened to you. Did they even do the hiking exercise?”

“No,” Naeun croaked, her eyes opening slowly. “They faked injury. I should’ve . . . followed.” Taemin smiled and settled down next to her, nestling his head in the crook of her neck. Naeun immediately stiffened and shifted away. “What are you doing?”

“Checking your temperature. You must’ve waited in the cold for so long, my angel,” Taemin sighed, sitting up and beginning to wrap her ankle in gauze.

“That’s so corny. And aren’t you the angel?” Naeun breathed.

“Yes. I’m your guardian angel, of course,” Taemin replied automatically. He stopped moving all of a sudden. “But I didn’t do a very good job of it, did I?”

“Taemin-"

“No. It was my fault. Next time, I’ll really protect you,” Taemin promised. He smiled and began to rub her head, as if she were a puppy. Naeun’s eyelids fluttered closed. “Go to sleep; I’ll be right here.” Suddenly, Naeun grabbed his hand and pulled him so that he was lying down next to her again.

“Right here?” she asked softly, her eyes still closed. Taemin stared at her for a long time, watching as her breathing began to slow.

“Right here,” he answered before she fell asleep. He leaned forward and brushed his lips over her forehead. “I promise.”

(A/N: too corny to handle? >.< Sorry!)

~~~~~~~

“Taemin!” Naeun screamed. His eyes immediately flew open and he scrambled up, falling off the edge of the bed.

“What? What?! What happened?!” he demanded, checking her state. She seemed fine.

“You were . . . next to me . . . where’s your shirt?!” Naeun squeaked, shifting so that her back was pressed against the wall. Taemin looked down. Sure enough, he was shirtless. He scanned the floor and retrieved his white tee, pulling it on. He shrugged.

“I sometimes take off my clothes when I sleep,” he admitted sheepishly. “Unconciously. Promise! I don't sleep strip on purpose."

“Sure,” Naeun harrumphed, the color in her cheeks slowly returning to normal. Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. She winced and pulled her blanket up to see her bandaged ankle.

“Does it hurt?” Taemin asked. He shook his head as soon as he asked stupid question. “Sorry. Of course it hurts. I keep forgetting that you can’t heal that within an hour.”

“Thanks,” Naeun replied dryly. “Even without your wings, you can still heal?”

“Of course! An angel’s not the same without wings, but he’s still an angel,” Taemin said. Naeun rolled her eyes but stopped when her stomach suddenly rumbled. She pretended nothing had happened, but Taemin was grinning at her. “Are you hungry? You did skip dinner at the dining hall yesterday. You also misssed the sauna.” He stopped when his stomach growled loudly, too. “Well . . . I guess I did, too.” Naeun smiled, grateful he had stayed with her, and started to inch her way off the bed when Taemin knelt in front of her on the floor, his back facing her.

“What are you doing . . .?” Naeun inquired, tilting her head to the side. Taemin looked back and chuckled at her cute innocence.

“Piggy back ride,” he explained. “Get on.” Naeun hesitated, then glanced at her ankle, which was still in pain and would probably hurt more if she put pressure on it. Finally, she awkwardly got onto his back. Taemin hooked his forearms under her knees and stood up unsteadily.

“Um, am I heavy?” Naeun stammered. “I’ll get down!”

“Yes, you’re heavy,” Taemin said, kicking the door open and making his way to the dining hall, “but I can get used to you.” When they arrived at the large building, where all the seniors were eating and chatting loudly, all eyes immediately went to them. They were still whispering obviously, but Taemin ignored them and carried Naeun all the way to the table where he spotted his friends.

“Hyungs!” Taemin greeted cheerfully, setting Naeun down gently on the open seat. Minho scooted over so that Taemin could share his seat.

“Did you spend the night with her?” Key teased. “I went over to check on you, but I only found Seung-hyun and  Ji Yong trying to kick Sulli and Suzy out. And the tall one kept complaining that I visited but not Minho.” Taemin turned guiltily to where he could see his two former roommates. They were glaring at him, bags under their eyes. He turned back to Key and smiled.

“I had to make sure Naeun-ah was safe,” Taemin said with a wink. The four older boys immediately gagged and grabbed their throats.

“Oh my, god,” Onew choked, gripping the table and silently hurling. “Is the air just stuffed with cheesiness today?!” He straightened and continued eating his porridge. Naeun calmly chewed on her rice, but she didn’t let Taemin get away without shooting him a glare.

“Aren’t you guys having fun?”

The five boys and girl turned their heads, the mood growing dimmer as the twelve EXO angels walked up to their table. The rest of the cafeteria was going mad with gossiping, and the girls were envying Naeun, one girl between a load of attractive boys. Naeun groaned and hid her head between her arms. Taemin knew why; she was used to hiding behind the crowd, not standing out in it.

Xiumin tilted his head, a steamed bun stuffed in his mouth and his posture slouched into a cool stance. Eleven of the members were staring darkly at the group sitting at the table, but Kai was standing a bit off to the side, his arms crossed and his eyes avoiding their gazes. Taemin noticed that the bruise on his cheek was getting worse, and despite himself, he felt guilty.

They had grown up together like brothers for a part of their life, after all.

“We need to talk, if that wasn’t clear when yesterday’s incident happened,” Suho stressed. His eyes went accusingly from Kai to Naeun and Taemin, who all shifted under his gaze.

“Which incident?” Naeun countered, trying to get Kai to look at her by glaring at him. Finally, he glanced at her, making Taemin stand up and sit himself between her and Jonghyun, in front of Kai's view of Naeun.

“What the hell . . .,” Jonghyun muttered, still trying to eat his breakfast.

“I didn’t mean to do all . . . that,” Kai defended himself. He lowered his voice. “You don’t think straight when you like someone.”

Taemin’s hands balled into fists and he growled under his breath.

“We’ll have to talk about this later . . .,” Kris said. “Talking about such a private matter in front of a crowd, during a trip - it’s not my style.” Everyone groaned.

Naeun ~

On the ride back, Kai didn’t even bother to steal the seat next to her. Taemin happily claimed his “rightful place” beside her, leaning against her shoulder to sleep. Naeun stared out the window to occupy herself, deep in thought.

“Naeun-ah . . .”

Naeun turned. Behind her was Onew. He’d gotten stuck with Baekhyun, who was frowning at her.

“Taemin . . . don’t break his heart. No matter how much an angel may heal, you can’t heal a broken heart, got it?” Onew told her.

“Yah. What about my Kai?” Baekhyun protested. Naeun bit her lip and looked out the window again. They were driving her into a corner, and she didn’t know how to escape. What did they expect her to do? It wasn't helping with them trying to guilt trip into choosing their member.

“What do you mean? Taeminnie is a bunch better than Kai!” Onew shot back.

“Shut up, both of you,” Taemin said suddenly, taking his head off Naeun’s shoulder to glare at both of them. “Now’s not the time.” Naeun hadn’t noticed how perfectly his head fit between her neck and shoulder, and how empty she felt when it wasn’t there. She silently waited for him to return to his fake sleeping. He did.

Naeun shifted her head to stare at Taemin’s sleeping face. He really looked like a baby now. A handsome baby. Naeun shuddered suddenly. How creepy would a handsome baby look? She noticed Taemin smirking.

“It would last longer if you took a picture,” he murmured tiredly, his big-but-still-smaller-than-Minho’s eyes opening. He blinked at her.

“Spare me the cheesy lines today,” Naeun retorted, rolling her eyes to look at anywhere but him. They sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the ride. At the end, though, everything changed. Everyone seemed to know where to go, hurrying off the bus and drifting to the side of the school where nobody went. The angels easily hopped over the bushes that covered the area from the field, and Taemin helped Naeun over them. SHINee lined up along the bush,while EXO leaned on the wall. It was funny how they represented themselves, the Dark angels in the shadow of the roof with the Light angels in the sun. Naeun ended up in the middle of the Light and Dark angels, who stood on either side of her with threatening looks.

“If Kai likes Naeun noona, then she’s ours!” Sehun said, reaching out for Naeun’s hand.

“Ah-ah-AH!” Key rebutted, pulling Naeun back towards the SHINee angels. She blinked rapidly, lost in the confusion. “If Naeun likes Taemin, then she’s his!” That sure was a good argument but . . . “You like our Taeminnie, right, Naeun?”

“Uh . . .” She couldn’t lie. But what was the truth?

“Whatever,” Taemin said flatly, and for a second, she thought he was angry at her for not saying yes. However, when she looked at him, he was glaring at Kai, who was staring straight back. “Naeun-ah, we have our shifts at the restaurant and cafe tonight. EXO, are you going to meet us there?”

“Naturally,” Kai answered for the twelve boys.

“Don’t spill anything,” Minho spat, and SHINee and an awkward Naeun walked away from the group of Dark angels, a sliver of the bitter aura trailing them.

~~~~~~~

“Who ordered the milk tea?” Naeun asked lightly. It was amazing how good of an actor she was. Inside, she was slowly dying. What was happening? She passed out the drinks to the customers and walked slowly back to the cafe desk. She waited up front for a someone to pass in orders. Onew came up first.

“Are you okay? This is the first time I’ve seen you about to hyperventilate,” Onew noted. Naeun shot him a look that said, Shut up, go away, and take your Onew Condition with you. Onew got the message and shuffled away. Naeun hadn't meant to be so rude. She pouted slightly. She thought she'd been hiding her feelings pretty well before, but apparently she wasn't.

“Don’t be so scared,” Taemin’s voice sounded. Naeun spun around. He was holding a mop, but not really cleaning, as if it were a prop he had just for the image of working. “I hate that you even care enough about him enough to be scared, you know.”

“Sorry,” Naeun muttered, looking at Onew’s order and taking out a cup.

“No need to apologize,” Taemin said simply as she started to pour coconut milk into it. Naeun stayed silent as she dumped jello angrily into the mix. “Are you mad? I mostly blame Kai.”

“No. I’m just stressed, okay, Taemin? I have enough to worry about besides dealing with your freaking supernatural world. Now you guys are affecting my love life and my life! Will it matter who I choose? Either way, the creatures of life or whatever will be going for my death? Will you guys just shut up about it?! Wouldn’t it be easier for me to just disappear?” Naeun ranted. She was breathing heavily, but she managed to keep her voice low so that no one would hear. She was used to doing that: holding back. She tried to concentrate on making her drink when she felt arms wrap around her. Naeun tensed, but then she simply gave up and slumped back into his chest.

Might as well enjoy it while it lasted, right?

“You don’t have to worry about your life, Naeun,” Taemin murmured, and she could practically hear his mood go dark. “That’s what we’re going to talk about today.” He paused. “Is that really why you were worried so much? You thought you were going to die?”

Naeun shook her head, but she didn’t tell him any further. No . . . I was frustrated because I knew that no matter what, I would lose you - again. Ha-ha. That would be way too embarrassing to say out loud. That was the sort of thing people said in the movies, or the fanfics. (A/N: mwuahahaha . . . . . . . .)

Naeun pressed the lid on to the cup and sighed, ringing the bell on the desk. Minho came over and eyed Taemin’s arms around her, giving Taemin a suggestive smirk. Taemin cleared his throat and let go, and abruptly, he looked at the front door. A cold air had rushed in, signaling that someone had opened it.

“They’re here,” Taemin muttered as the twelve boys took a seat in a large booth. Some of the customers who had been there before started muttering.

“Oh! It’s those bunch of boys!”

“Do you think they’ll start talking all serious again!”

“This will make up for the episode of the K-Drama I missed!”

Naeun tilted her head to the side and met eyes with Kai. He was going to look away, she knew, but she held up her index finger quickly, causing him to pause.

“Somewhere private,” she mouthed, spinning her finger around to signal for them to go around the back. Kai stared at her before nodding and murmuring to s. The twelve got up and left the restaurant cafe.

“What the heck? Those pretty boys aren’t going to stay and order?” one of Naeun’s co-workers whined, pulling on her pigtails and pouting. She smiled at Taemin and Minho. “Well, of course you rookies are cute, too.”

“Right,” Naeun said flatly. “Order at Table Three, Dara.” She shoved the cup to her co-worker. “The six of us are going to take a break on the shift. Can your buddies on break fill in?” Dara considered.

“Sure, if you take my table-wiping duties next week. I have a party,” Dara hummed. Naeun shrugged as she took off her apron. “Asa!”

“Out back,” was all Naeun said as she walked passed the other three waiting in the kitchen.

“Eh?! Already?” Jonghyun whined, his arms elbow-deep in soapy water. Naeun calmly took out his arms, grabbed a towel, and wiped them down.

“I got it!” Taemin said hurriedly.

“No, I got it!” Key butted in, grabbing the towel and drying Jjong’s forearms. (A/N: JongKey, anyone? As friends? Friendship? No? Okay . . .)

Naeun smiled at the exchange, but inside, she was going to pass out. What could the angels possibly want to talk about? If the Dark angels were here to break Taemin and her apart, but Kai . . . fell for her . . . what does that mean?

Did they have a chance? After all, seventeen angels and a human against the rest of the angel race was better than what they had, right?

A/N:

Ooooh, next chapter means business. I don't know.

I was really procrastinating on this update because my mouse

MAGICALLY

kept moving the cursor over to watch Key on Global We Got Married

TOO CUTE.

Anyhow, I kept clicking back and forth between story and video so I was a little bit distracted.

Just a little bit.

. . . . is lies.

But it's okay.

As long as I updated >~<

I almost forgot.

Sowwy . . .

Plus, I'm in a really bad mood today, and the heat isn't helping. :'(

Thank you for reading! Your comments and subscribing and votes or even being here makes my day!

-pannashawol