Taemin ~

“Eh?!” Naeun whispered. Taemin grinned, propping his head up with his chin in his palm and his elbow on the desk. “Those boys you were hugging . . . are all angels? How?!”

“We were all best friends when I was young. I feel bad because they chose to get banned along with me, apparently,” Taemin sighed, staring at the desk. He tugged at his uniform and sat back in his seat. “They’re actually all technically supposed to be in college right now, but they faked their age to get in my grade.” Taemin grinned.

“Wow. They’re very loyal, and they all look so young . . .”

“Of course. We’re angels. We live forever and choose how we age.” Naeun got a weird expression on her face. “What?”

“Nothing . . . Are their wings . . . gone?”

“No,” Taemin answered darkly. “You see, they weren’t exactly banned.” He lowered his voice. “The Light sent them out as the ones they chose to watch over me. They want to make sure I don’t do something really stupid. They’re also supposed to try to convince me to not stay with you, but they’re my friends so . . .”

Taemin shrugged nonchalantly.

“But that means we should be on the lookout for Dark angels.” His light eyes dimmed a bit. “They’re most likely not going to be as charitable with their consideration to us.”

“Dark angels?” Naeun echoed quietly. They didn't sound all that nice. Taemin noticed her wide eyes and tried to assure her with his smile.

“We should only be worried about the darkest of them, EXO. They’re just like Light angels, but they have black wings . . . and, well, they don’t mind killing or breaking hearts or losing minds?” Taemin effort to reassure Naeun was not noted.

He pouted, realizing that what he said hadn’t helped at all. He peeked forward when Naeun turned away, and he was pleased to find out that she was trying to hide her smile. It was sad to know that she’d been alone all these years, but he was glad that she was isolated in her seating pairs so that he could be put next to her in every class.

“I’ll introduce you to them during lunch,” Taemin promised. Naeun shrugged.

~~~~~~~

“I’m Lee Jinki, the oldest.” The chinky-eyed boy smiled brightly, but to Naeun, it couldn’t compare to Taemin’s smiles. “You can call me Onew, though. Don't ask."

“Kim Jonghyun,” the boy with literally white hair greeted, giving her a flirtatious wink. Taemin slapped him.

“I’m Key. Well, Kim Kibum, but Key suits my diva image better, right? You better not hurt my son’s feelings!” the skinny and most feminine boy scolded. Naeun frowned.

“Son?”

“Ani!” Taemin said quickly. “He’s just like an umma to us all . . .”

“No kidding,” the tallest of the five said, his voice deep and charming. “I’m Choi Minho.”

“Together, we are SHINee,” Taemin finished, bumping Naeun’s hip. They were sitting on the grass for lunch, discussing schedules. They had a few classes here and there together, but all of them shared Physical Education for last period. Minho and Naeun had the same teacher, and Taemin, Jonghyun, and Key had their own.

“SHINee?” Naeun repeated slowly.

“Because we’re the shining angels of the Light!” Jonghyun chirped. Naeun bit her lip and tried not to laugh. “No offense, but the Middle roamers don’t exactly have the best school . . . or school lunch.”

“I know,” Naeun said, nudging her uneaten lunch. Beside her, Onew frowned and pulled the tray over to himself.

“Yah, don’t let this chicken go to waste!”

“How are you even sure if it’s real chicken, hyung?” Taemin asked.

“Chicken is chicken! Stupid!” Onew shot back. The five angels laughed, Naeun watching quietly. “Hey, Naeun, why are you younger than us, but you’re in the same grade?”

“I skipped when I was in sixth,” Naeun answered coolly.

“Wah!” Everyone applauded her, although they weren't exactly sure how the human school system worked. Duddenly the four newcomers exchanged sheepish glances.

“You ask,” Minho muttered, pushing Onew forward.

“YAH!” Onew protested. His mouth was still full of chicken, so his food sprayed in Minho’s face. “Taemin’s the youngest! He should ask!”

“You idiot!” Minho roared, wiping half-chewed food off his clothes. “Taemin doesn’t even know!” Onew frowned and swallowed.

“Taemin-ah . . . where are you staying?” Onew inquired, his chinky eyes suddenly growing big as he tried to use aegyo on his maknae.

“Eh?!” Taemin exclaimed. He and Naeun looked at each other.

“You’re staying at Naeun’s?! Already?!” Key shrieked, but he quickly composed himself.. “Um . . . Naeun. Do you have any room at your place for us?”

“Yah!” Taemin protested, putting his arm out in front of Naeun. She frowned and gently pushed his arm away.

“I do have room,” she answered. Taemin glanced at her, raising his eyebrows. “What? They’re your friends, and they left whatever you call the Light for you.” Taemin’s members nodded their heads enthusiastically. “All right. Taemin, you’ll sleep  on the couch. Minho and Onew can share my grandma’s old room, and Jonghyun and Key can bunk in the guest room, got it?”

“Got it!” the four attractive boys chorused. Taemin chewed on his lip, reluctant. He was hoping he’d get to be alone with Naeun in their time living together, to get her to fall for him. (A/N: not in the erted way, you pedo readers ;D)

“However,” Naeun said, pulling Taemin out of his thoughts and back to reality. “The bills will be going up - electricity, phone, water . . . you guys need jobs.”

“Jobs?” Jonghyun echoed. He groaned and fell back on the grass, flailing in his despair. “Why do we need jobs? That requires . . . work.”

“Exactly,” Naeun agreed, pressing her lips together to stop herself from smiling. “Work means money. How else are you guys going to pay me back? You didn’t expect me to let you freeload, right?” The members shifted awkwardly. “You, too, Taemin, no matter how much you think we’ll be lovers. After school, we’re going straight to my job.”

“You have a job? Where?” Taemin piped up, curious.

“I have a job at A Cube Cafe, but I think we have enough employees. I can get you a job at the JYP Restaurant, though,” Naeun offered. Taemin frowned, not wanting a separate job from her. Naeun noticed and rolled her eyes. “A Cube Cafe is connected to the JYP Restaurant. It’s literally like a bar inside of the restaurant. A little joint.”

“What shift do you have then?” Taemin

“The night shift on weekdays. JYP’s dinner time goes from 2P.M. to 2A.M., so you can get something between there,” Naeun answered. (A/N: Anyone get the references? Yes? No? Ok . . .)

“Asa!” Taemin cheered.

“Why are you cheering, you punk?” Jonghyun wailed. “We’re getting jobs.”

Naeun ~

“You’re lucky my grandmother used to be friends with the owner, or all of you wouldn’t have gotten in,” Naeun said, amused as she watched the five boys. “It’s not hard to see why you got these jobs, so you guys shouldn’t complain.”

“What do you mean? How did I get stuck with janitor?” Taemin whimpered, throwing his broom on the floor. Naeun picked it up calmly.

“Jonghyun and Key whine the most, so they needed to be behind the scenes. Jonghyun washes dishes, and Key cooks. You sure can’t be the cook. They told me you’ve put honey and milk in ramen before? And what was it? Salt?”

“Ani,” Taemin said firmly, but he turned away and suddenly became interested in sweeping the kitchen floor. Naeun snorted and continued as she rolled her eyed.

“Onew has a lovely smile and gets along with the customers well, and Minho gets things done very fast and looks good in the uniform, so that’s why they’re servers.”

“But you’re a waitress at the cafe,” Taemin whined. Naeun sighed. Who did he think he was, Jonghyun now? “I want to serve with you.”

“You can be promoted by the end of the month,” Naeun said, suddenly cold, “and it won’t matter after that.” The room had suddenly gone quiet. Jonghyun turned to the sink and began scrubbing at the plates Onew and Minho had brought back, and Key put all his focus into stirring the soup. “I-I’m going to work.”

Naeun gripped her tray as she ran to the small cafe right outside the kitchen. She bit her lip as she scanned through the orders. Why did she always bring up that one month deadline? Maybe she just wanted to remind herself.

That no matter what, she couldn’t get close to Lee Taemin, or it would all be gone.

Naeun placed a large bubble tea drink, orange juice, and coffee on the tray before making her way to the booth that had ordered the drinks. She was surprised to find six very attractive looking males waiting there. The boy sitting at the edge, whom she could’ve mistaken for Taemin with his similar jawline and eyes, brightened when he saw her.

“Your drinks?” she stated as she passed out the cups.

“The coffee’s mine,” the Taemin look-alike said. He reached for the cup as she held it out, but his hand knocked the contents over. It landed on her uniform, and the hot drink burned her legs.

“OUCH!” Naeun shouted involuntarily. She bit her tongue and clapped her hands over , trying to hold back the pain. Onew and Minho, who had been serving other customers, ran over, but before they could reach her, Taemin burst out from the kitchen. He raced over to Naeun and fell on his knees, grabbing a napkin from the table and dabbing at the stain.

“Are you okay? Are you alright?” he demanded. “Does it hurt?” Naeun didn’t reply and calmly bowed her head to the customers.

“I’m sorry. I’ll get you another drink,” she said calmly.

“She’s a tough little one you’ve got there, Lee Taemin,” the boy who had spilled the coffee on Naeun observed. Slowly, Taemin and Naeun turned their heads toward the owner of the voice and coffee. "You're, ah, Son Naeun, right?"

“Kim Jong In?” Taemin whispered, and his voice was full of venom. “Kai! EXO-K?” Taemin's enraged eyes swept over the six strangers, who looked a lot more dangerous now.

And Naeun remembered Taemin telling her about EXO. She gripped her uniform as Taemin told her to leave, and for once she obeyed. Things were happening fast. The darkest of the Dark angels were here - and they were here because of her.

A/N:

yaaaay, double update!

That's right. I decided that since the fic was doing better than I expected -

(I expected only 3 views, all of them being my personal friends >~<)

- I would post another one today!

No, it wasn't because I fangirled so hard over my subscribers that I couldn't wait to post another chapter . . .

*innocence*

SO YAAAY EXO HAS ARRIVED. Well, at least half of them have.

As you can see by all my prior gif usage (and if you checked my profile) I am not an extreme Exotic.

However, my friend is, and I love her, so I added EXO to my story.

You are the "Key" to my heart, buddy <3 (*whispers* I lie)

She hates my puns, but (^3^)

Saranghae, to you, too, readers!

-pannashawol