Taemin~

“You could have told us your macho plan before you took action, you know,” Key complained for the millionth time. Taemin didn’t even bother to roll his eyes.

“I can’t believe we just left her like that,” Kai muttered. “She looked - broken down. And she looked - only at you . . .” Taemin raised his gaze to meet Kai’s, his own expression still lifeless, but he felt a bit of understanding pass between them. “She loves you, doesn't she?”

“ . . . ”

“Not me," Kai continued bitterly, running his hands through his hair.

“It’s too late, and it doesn’t matter now,” Taemin said, falling onto his back. All of the boys had gathered on the roof of Naeun’s house, SHINee’s former motel. It was already dark, and she wasn’t home yet. Taemin felt his chest aching with worry, but he stayed still in an effort to keep his emotions frozen as well.

“It doesn’t matter?” Kai laughed dryly and punched Taemin’s arm.

“What the hell, Kai?”

“We’re still on your side,” Kai said quietly.  "Even if I lost." Taemin turned his head to see EXO sitting silently behind Kai, their eyes shining in the darkness with agreement. He looked to the other side, where his own hyungs were smiling at him encouragingly.

“How is that going to change anything?” he whispered hoarsely.

“We won’t tell the angels back home the truth? Duh,” Suho said.

“Yeah. I’m, like, thirty-two percent sure that Naeun still has her memory,” Chanyeol piped up. Taemin squinted at him incredulously before shaking his head. Did he really not listen to Taemin's explanation of his plan? Oh, for the love of -

“Forget it. We all are aware that we all like Naeun, no matter what rivalries we have between each other,” Onew said irritably. “And we all know that this is the best way to keep her alive and safe. The Light ruler even told Taemin in their mental link thing.”

“It could’ve just been a dream,” Chen protested.

“And I could’ve knocked you off this roof ten seconds ago, but did I?” Jonghyun rebutted, earning him a pout from the other.

“She’s back,” Kai said quietly, and Taemin immediately straightened. It was hard trying to see her without being seen by her. There was Naeun, arriving at the house, trudging down the walkway. Her hair was falling loosely around her face, as if she had been raking her hands through the strands constantly.

“Does she look pale? Tired? Or is it just me?” Taemin breathed, his throat clogged. He took the silence as an, It’s not just you. Taemin listened to her mumble as she walked up the steps of the porch and took out her keys.

“Stupid Lee Taemin . . . I hope you rot in the Dark or whatever you guys think is the equivalent to eternal damnation,” she growled. Taemin gulped and crawled back further on the roof.

“She hates me,” he said flatly.

“Ani! That’s just something people say when they love someone,” Minho assured him. Taemin gave him a doubtful glare. “Trust me, I hear Key talk like that to Jjong all the time. I'm pretty sure that's love, right?” Jonghyun nodded sorrowfully.

“Let’s just go to sleep, okay?” Onew said softly, patting the youngest of the five on the head. All of the angels exchanged glances.

“Um, here?” Lay spoke up. “On the roof? In the cold?"

“Do you need a night light?” Onew said, his smile perfect yet icy as he turned to Lay. Lay swallowed and shook his head. “Okay. Good night.”

The seventeen angels awkwardly settled on the roof, trying not to make too much noise as they did. Taemin closed his eyes and put his arms over his face.

Goodnight, Naeun.

Kai~

Sleeping was nice, but he had his priorities. Kai stood up slowly, as to not wake anyone, and leapt off the roof as gracefully as he could.

Which wasn’t that graceful. He tumbled and rolled through the grass, but when he looked up and waited for a few seconds, no one went to check. He exhaled in relief and crept into the house. Naeun had left the key in a small pocket made of duct tape under the window for the boys to come in. When he was about to turn left, towards Naeun’s room, he ended up hearing sniffles to his right. He felt his heart shatter when he realized that it was Naeun.

“Naeun?” he said softly as he entered the kitchen. There was a gasp, and Kai watched with a throbbing chest. as Naeun dropped the pencil she’d been holding. He could see her notebook laid out on the kitchen table. The sketches in there were just endless drawings of wings.

“Kai? Are . . . are you all still here?” she breathed, racing forward to hug him. Kai had always wanted her to do that, but . . . he grabbed her wrists so that she halted in front of him. “Kai?”

“No. Everyone’s gone. I just came back to make something clear.” Kai didn’t let the fact that disappointment overshadowed Naeun’s face as he said that slip by. That everyone was gone. “You don’t love me back, do you?" He saw Naeun visibly tense, her fists clenching.

“Kai.”

“It’s Taemin hyung, right?”

“Kai.”

“Well?” Kai knew the answer, but he just needed to hear it.

“I’m not saying no.”

Kai closed his eyes and chuckled, nodding his head. “I knew it.” He let go of Naeun’s wrists and stared at her. “Well, if you really love him, listen to him. Don’t let anyone know about us. They’ll either ruin our long-time hiding, or put you in a mental hospital.” It hurt to watch as her lower lip tremble slightly while he spoke. “Really forget about him. I’m not saying this because of our little situation, me wanting you to love me and all. I’m saying this because of the big situation. Forget everything.”

“I can’t,” Naeun hiccuped. “It hurts even more than remembering if I'm trying to forget.”

“I know. But you have to.” Kai pressed his lips together, glad that he’d gotten that out of the way. “Goodbye.” He heard her breath hitch as he turned and started to leave, and a small hand stopped him by the arm.

“Can you . . . can you tell him I said hi?” Naeun asked. Kai looked down and nodded once. “And that I hate him so much.” Kai laughed a bit and nodded again, making his way to the door. Just before he opened it, he heard her add softly, “And I love him.”

He smiled bitterly as he shut the door, and he immediately sprouted his wings. It stung a bit when he forced it out quickly, but he knew she was running forward to open the door. Sure enough, when he leapt into the air, the front door was thrown open. Kai heard Naeun sigh loudly and close the door, and he exhaled in relief as he landed lightly on the roof . . .

. . . And was immediately shoved down into the dirt.

“Ouch!” he hissed as he skidded into the forest on his back. He let his wings disappear when he stopped. “Taemin?” The older boy’s eyes were murderous, and his teeth were clenched as well as his fists when he stormed forward to kick Kai's shin. Kai groaned as he sat up, massaging his shoulder. “What the hell?! Stop that!"

“You talked to her,” Taemin spat, standing over him and glowering. “You went to see her. When we all made sure that everyone knew not to." Kai's eyes widened. He had never seen Taemin furious before, even when he told him that he wouldn't hang out with Taemin anymore because he was lame when they were young.

“T-Taemin. It’s not what you -” Kai stopped abruptly when Taemin’s expression wavered. Then it completely collapsed.

“Why didn’t you take me?” Taemin croaked.

“T-Taemin?” Kai managed to say as Taemin fell to his knees, staring at the ground.

“I wanted to go. I wanted to see her. Talk to her. Hear her,” Taemin ranted, his fingers tearing at his hair. He was enraged, depressed. “I’m so desparate, Kai. What the heck am I doing?” Kai scrambled to his knees as Taemin continued on. “I think I told her too fast. I left too fast. I was thinking that I should give her more time to accept, to make sure she was okay but . . . Kai.” Taemin looked up, and to Kai’s horror, his eyes were shining with - tears? “I’m not okay. How selfish am I?”

“Taemin. Taemin. Calm down. I went to Naeun to make sure that she rejected me, fair and square,” Kai said, putting his hand on his . . . friend’s shoulder. “Also, I got her to say something.” He brightened his tone in an effort to cheer up the other. Taemin squinted at Kai, still angry but curious. “You know she loves you, right?” Taemin leaned forward and let his head rest on his friend’s shoulder.

“Did she say that?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry she couldn’t say it to you.”

“I am, too," Taemin sighed.

“Are we seriously just going to live on a roof for the next 15 days?”

“I know I am.”

“Oh . . . what about the bathroom?”

“We’re standing on it.”

Taemin~

It was hard watching Naeun walk in and out of the house for the next seven days. Taemin, usually sitting in a tree or on the roof, would clench his fists tighter until his fingernails cut into his palm.

The first day, Naeun gradually made her way to the front of the house and stopped. At this time, she would usually turn around and scream for the rest of the boys to hurry up.

The next day, she only hesitated for a few seconds.

After that, her footsteps only faltered a bit.

Gradually, but faster than Taemin would have liked, selfishly, she simply walked on as though there was no change in her daily schedule. He pouted when it was Saturday. She wasn’t coming out of the house.

“She should need groceries by now, right, hyung?” he pestered Onew. “She hasn’t come home with any bags yet. Do you think she’s starving herself?”

“I’m starving,” Minho in before Onew could reply, pouting. “I miss Naeun’s home-cooked foods. Tae-ah. Let’s go back. We can tell her that we leave later, hm?”

“No! It’s going to make it harder on the both of us,” Taemin said stubbornly, crossing his arms and pouting. He perked up when he heard the front door click. “She’s coming out!” He watched as Naeun stepped out of the house wearing a large, bright red backpack. “What is she doing . . .?” His eyes followed Naeun as she walked down the road. He turned back to the guys and jerked his head toward her. “Who’s coming?”

Onew, Minho, Suho, and Lay raised their hands immediately.

“Bored,” Onew explained.

“Hungry,” Minho said.

“Curious,” Suho supplied.

“What are we doing?” Lay asked.

Naeun~

“You’re donating?” Ha-young exclaimed. “When I asked you, you said you didn’t have much to give to me for my garage sale.”

“I got some stuff,” Naeun said with a shrug. Ha-young wasn’t her best friend, but she was one of the closest acquaintances Naeun had ever had. “Here.” She pulled out all the things she’d collected while the five angels had lived with her. She counted them off in her head. Sleeping bags . . . camping things . . . too many lunchboxes . . . Naeun stopped at the two objects in her hand, hesitating.

“Oh, my gosh! Those mushroom plushies are too adorable! They’ll probably sell right away.” Ha-young started to reach for them, but Naeun pulled back.

“Uh, I think I’m keeping these two. How did they end up in this pile?” Naeun mumbled. She knew why; she’d wanted to get rid of them, every single thing about that jerk Taemin - but she just couldn’t. For some reason.

“Oh, is it important to you?” Ha-young asked understandingly, putting the other items in a neat display.

“No,” Naeun answered immediately. Her forehead creased as she frowned. I don’t know. I don’t think so. “What time does the sale start?”

“Soon. Are you going to help?” Ha-young sounded genuinely surprised. Naeun pursed her lips. Maybe she didn’t go out with her friends enough. Or anyone, for that matter. She nodded and began to sort out the piles. From the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something - someone - familiar. She whipped around and stared, wide-eyed, towards the roof across the street. “Naeun? You okay?”

“Huh? Yeah,” she said uncertainly, looking back at the old toys laid out in front of her. I didn’t just see that. That was not just Taemin’s skinny figure she saw dive off of Ha-young’s neighbor’s roof. Along with three other familiar figures. Right?

A/N:

Sorry if it's boring!

Hehe, that TaeKai scene.

Yep, so the whole Tae-Kai-Eun problem was solved.

But not the whole human-angel-Taeun problem, mm-mm-m.

don't kill me.

A lot of you thought that the Taemin-leaving-Naeun-forever chapter would be the last chapter

And I got so many comments

I was just sitting there like

Why would I end this story there?

I'm not that evil.

maybe . . .

I'm not sure how many chapters are going to be left, but this definitely isn't the end.

Don't you readers worry.

Ahahaha, I can't stop laughing you guys were all like

But I have a lot more planned.

Sort of.

I don't know.

Stay strong while Taeun are separated!

Thank you for staying, my dear readers!