Taemin~

Still Wednesday - Day 2 of Memory Wipeout Mission

“She still hasn’t woken up?” Kai asked again. Taemin gripped his fists tightly.

“No, Kai. No. For the millionth time, damn it, she hasn’t woken up. Seventeen angels trying to knock her out and erase her memory must’ve wiped her out.” Taemin stared at Naeun on the couch. Her chest rose and fell with every breath she took. He replaced the towel on her forehead with a damper one and bit his lip nervously.

“Should you still be here when she wakes up?”

“ . . . No.”

“Everyone’s outside right now. We’re going to head out and get some drinks before we go back to where we belong,” Kai said.

“I don’t belong where any of you are going. As soon as I get back, I’ll be treated like an outcast. A stupid, idiotic, traitorous outcast. Because I fell in love with her. No one knows that you like her back there . . . but they know I do.” Taemin’s knuckles whitened as he gripped the edge of the couch. “But it was worth it, I guess.”

“ . . . Hyung . . .”

“Taemin? Kai? Are you coming?” Onew asked softly from the doorway.

“All right,” Kai answered. He looked back at Taemin. “I know you’re weaker than me, so I’ll give you fifteen minutes. We’ll wait outside, okay? What a wimp . . .” Taemin ignored Kai as he left the house. He rubbed his face wearily and tried not to let anymore tears escape. He had broken down twice already since Naeun had collapsed. How embarrassing.

“Naeun-ah. I’m sorry I can’t be here for you anymore. I don’t think I did much for you anyways.” Taemin paused, and he couldn’t stop staring at her face. His gaze focused on her lips. “Can I just . . . before I go . . .” Taemin leaned forward slowly, stopping when his lips were millimeters from hers. He closed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I can’t.” He started talking to himself. “It’s not the same . . .”

Then he opened his eyes and in his breath.

Her eyes.

Were wide open.

She was staring straight at him, and her lips were parted slightly in shock. She immediately pushed his chest so that he toppled backwards onto the ground.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” she shrieked. “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!” Taemin felt his heart drop. Who did he think he was . . . ? She really forgot him.

“I - ah - I mean - I was just,” he babbled. Naeun looked furious. Think of a lie. A good lie! “I was just doing a checkup. As your doctor. Um, your breathing is . . . nice." You damn idiot, Taemin.

“What?”

“Sorry. I’ll leave now. You can pay me for it later. You had a fever. I guess you’re still a little - uh - you know, when you get fevers.” Taemin swallowed, hoping she would just forget about him after he left. His face. His voice. So he could leave without any guilt. “I’ll go now. Sorry for the trouble. Bye. Doctor is out, hahahaha . . .”

He turned around and started to walk away, but he felt a hand snatch his wrist.

“Wait.”

Taemin swallowed, but he didn’t dare turn around, or else she would see his face. What if she never got that out of her head? He was handsome, after all. (A/N: Taemin and his big ego :3)

“Where are you going?”

“Huh? Um. Home. To my office. My doctor’s office. In the place where doctor’s work,” Taemin added nervously. Naeun was silent.

“The hospital?”

“Yeah, I guess, if that’s what you want to call it,” Taemin said, starting to sweat.

“What the heck are you talking about, Taemin?” Naeun groaned, letting go of his arm. Taemin stopped breathing right then.

“What?” he whispered hoarsely. Did he hear that right?

“Uh, I said, ‘What the heck are you talking about, Taemin?’” Naeun repeated as Taemin turned to look at her. Naeun rolled her eyes and stood up, teetering slightly as she did. Taemin reached out and grabbed her by the hands. “Hey-”

“My name. You said my name,” Taemin breathed, a mix of emotions coursing through him. Naeun raised one eyebrow and gave him a long, concerned stare - concerned as in, I might need to send you to a mental institution.

“Yeah. Lee Taemin. So what?” Naeun muttered. “I want some water. Can you - ACK!”  

Taemin cut her off by her enveloping her in a tight hug.

“You remember me!” he gasped, jumping and down, dragging her along with him.

“AUGH, YOU FREAK OF AN ANGEL, STAHP,” Naeun choked. “I CAN’T BREATHE.” Taemin let go immediately, grinning like a fool as he simply put his hands on her shoulders. “Oh . . . Oh. You thought the whole thing where seventeen powerful angels using their magic would erase my memory?”

“Naturally,” Taemin whispered. “I thought you forgot me. I thought I would have to leave you. But you remember everything . . ." He looked down and bit his lip so hard that blood drew as he tried to keep in his tears. "I almost left. And lost you."

Naeun seemed uncomfortable with the fact that she almost never saw Taemin again. Okay, maybe she was thinking about the other angels, too, but this was Taemin’s point of view, and this was how he viewed it.

“I still remember everything,” Naeun assured him softly, suddenly putting her hands on either of his cheeks. “Are you all right? You look sick.”

“I feel sick,” Taemin admitted. He suddenly stepped back. “Let’s go outside. They’re waiting.” He took Naeun’s hand and led her to the frontyard.

“NOONA!” Sehun screamed when Naeun and Taemin came out. “I-I mean, who is this person, Taemin hyung?” Taemin rolled his eyes.

“She remembers,” Taemin grunted, and he noticed Kai visibly sigh in relief. He tightened his hold on Naeun’s hand. “I’ve decided to not erase her memory anymore. I don’t think I can handle that, and it’s not like it’s going to work from what's been happening. Tomorrow, we discuss battle plans.”

Taemin felt Naeun stiffen beside him, but he shot her a reassuring glance.

There was no other option.

There was no other way.

There was no going back now.

Day 2: Mission Failure, Fortunately/ Mission End

Naeun~

It was weird seeing Taemin acting so lifeless and empty, trying to act like he didn’t know Naeun and vice versa. Naeun was secretly relieved that she didn’t forget him, the others, and she was even more relieved when they gave up on erasing her memory.

She didn’t know why she was immune to the angel memory wipeouts, but she was thankful that she had that ability.

“No, no, no, the best way to surprise them is to enter the Light this way,” Onew protested to Suho, who was drawing up a plan. They had just finished their shifts at the restaurant and cafe, and the eighteen of them had gone to the library to discuss plans. “Then you guys can go into the Dark this way, then we take them here-”

“No!” Kris countered. “That is not my style. We drag the armies here, see?” Everyone was trying to point out their plan on the ugly map Kris had drawn out. Naeun frowned, tilting her head to the side as she examined the map.

“What’s wrong?” Taemin murmured.

“How, exactly, does one enter the Light? Is it up there, in the clouds or whatever, like everyone thinks? And what about the Dark?” Naeun questioned curiously. Everyone exchanged confused looks.

“Um, we never thought about that,” Luhan said.

“I think there’s a certain portal-like thing that only angels can reach. We're in this world, but not in this planet, technically. I’m pretty sure there’s one around Canada for the Light. Or was it somewhere in Europe?” Lay said.

“How do you think of two totally different places?” Jonghyun muttered.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure the one for the Dark is around Hollywood,” Minho added. “It changes every now and then, and really strong angels can control where they land. Like when they threw Minnie out, they placed it above an island.” Naeun bit her lip, but Taemin calmly patted her back.

“Why?”

“I-I was thinking,” Naeun mumbled, putting her finger on the bubble Kris drew that was supposedly the Dark, “if we could make it so that . . .” Naeun frowned and picked up a marker, scribbling. “Okay, so let’s say we use the majority of you. Can you guys combine your powers again and try to move that portal-door-things to a certain area here so that we can have them all meet up in one place?”

“Eh?” Chanyeol said.

“We can use you angels to move the Light portal and Dark portal to, say, an open area in the forest? We send a bunch of you to the Light and a bunch of you to the Dark, right?” Naeun explained, drawing circles in random places on the map. “The armies will be like ‘raaaah’ and you guys will be like ‘raaawwwr’-”

“Dino Jjong volunteers to go ‘rawr,’” Key offered, raising up Jonghyun’s hand.

“-then you guys will start running to the portal and lead them so that the Light and the Dark will meet up in the Middle, I mean, Earth or whatever - away from other humans,” Naeun finished. She frowned. “I’m not sure what happens after that, but I think that’s how it should go.”

“That’s smart,” Kai praised her. Naeun smiled a bit, and she sensed Taemin’s jealousy without even looking at him. It sort of made her pleased.

“From there, we can gather here. Should we start with violence or words?” Suho asked. It was obvious what the two sides wanted separately.

“Words. Less death first, please,” Onew said sarcastically while D.O. gave him a long, expressionless look.

“Wait. Where will Naeun be in this?” Taemin demanded. Naeun hadn’t even thought of that. She pursed her lips and looked at the shelf on her left, clearing .

“With you,” she muttered.

“What? No, I’ll be fighting,” Taemin said slowly.

“I know,” she answered simply.

“No way,” Kai said flatly. “It’s too dangerous. What are they going to do to you, a simple human girl in the midst of two huge angel armies?”

“Nothing. They won’t,” Naeun argued, pressing her lips together. She glared at Taemin and Kai. Their interest came with some annoying pet peeves. “Aren’t we going to talk first? I can handle that.”

“It’s most likely that talking will end up with killing,” Xiumin sang.

“Shh!” the librarian hissed, so it was obvious she hadn't heard exactly what he'd said.

“I don’t want to hide. It’ll be easier to keep them in place when they don’t have to search for me,” Naeun debated, bringing her voice down a few notches.

“What are we even going to say to them?” Tao wondered.

“#YOLO,” Onew whispered. “You Only Love Onew . . .”

The remaining sixteen angels took turns slapping him while Naeun shook her head.

(A/N: I am so sorry for adding that :3)

~~~~~~~

Naeun stared at the wall, her back facing the door as she lay in bed. She was thinking about the battle they would have. She counted on her fingers and took a shaky breath.

Seventeen days left. A little bit more than two weeks.

She heard a soft kachak, and she thought one of the boys had entered the bathroom, but then her mattress shifted. Naeun whirled. Her eyes went wide when they met Taemin's.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Taemin murmured. “I keep thinking about your plan, and I don’t like it.” Naeun didn’t bother to hide her hurt expression. She’d thought hard about that plan. “No, not that. The whole portal thing was really smart, honest. But I just don’t want you being there. You could get hurt.” Naeun frowned.

“Why do you think I’m there, Taemin?” she scoffed, turning around and closing her eyes.

“Huh?” Taemin murmured, leaning forward to hear her better. Naeun felt him breathing on her neck, so she cleared and shifted awkwardly.

“I want to be there to make sure you - you guys - don’t get hurt,” she said. She had the urge to turn around and see what Taemin was doing when she felt him drape an arm over her. “YAH!”

“Calm down,” Taemin mumbled as Naeun craned her neck to look back at him. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was starting to slow down. He opened his eyes slightly to smile. “Your eyes are like chocolates. And I’m sleepy.”

“Huh?” Naeun stammered as Taemin went back to sleeping. After a while, he seemed fully unconscious. Naeun couldn’t help but stare at him until she fell into her own slumber.

A/N:

TROLL.

HahahAHAHA.

How many of you were scared that Naeun forgot him? Anyone? No?

Oka~y . . .

Haha, when I saw some of your comments I was just like

There was no way I'd let that happen.

Maybe.

It depends on my magnitude of evil.

Haaaaahhhhh, it felt satisfying seeing you guys worry for Taeun.

Do not fret, dear readers.

See you in the next update!

-pannashawol