I just love the ending of this reference with Taemin and Key: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6nN5zyVq48

If you don’t know them yet look for other “cosmicaa” edits of SHINee stages on youtube. They’re awesome.

Umm, and I just discovered the teaser for Taemin’s solo-project “danger” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6O_XkIbuqI I think I might as well collapse and die.

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For some reason I expected Kibum to be a lousy driver although I’ve never actually been chauffeured by him before but he is surprisingly skilled behind the wheel.

The fans on foot have completely surrounded the car and some actually try to open the doors. I wonder what they would do to us, if they succeeded.

Kibum inches forward carefully and even smiles at the screaming and rampaging girls.

“You’ve got one freaking nerve”, Minho says with a mixture of annoyance and awe and Key pulls a face at him via rear-view mirror.

The good thing about the pedestrians is that there are so many of them that they block the taxis from following us. So when we finally break free from the crowd we’ve even gained a head-start. Kibum speeds up immediately and yells:

“Seatbelt, seatbelt!”

Taemin, Minho and I hastily buckle up in the back while Jjong almost theatrically flings himself over our chauffeur to get to the driver’s belt and secure Kibum. It’s kind of funny and touching at the same time and gets even funnier when Key reacts with a short outburst of laughter and a smack:

“YOURS, you moron.”

And then we’re back on the freeway heading south. We seem to have lost our tail because they probably expect us to return to Seoul. But it might be just a matter of time until they catch up again.

We all relax and I feel cheered up by having the people around me that I have most faith in. It probably sounds weird but these four men are the people I have relied on more often than on anybody else even though it was just doing stages and variety shows. But they’ve never let me down. “SHINee fighting” is not just a flowery expression. Being in front of an enormous and almost manically excited crowd with high expectations sometimes feels like fighting a battle. I remember performances where I was frightened stiff before going out on stage and how our huddle and group-hug gave me strength. And during the shows everybody keeps an eye on the others to support, correct or just send out a smile that says “I’m here if you need me”. After each successful song we exchange glances, thumbs ups, high fives or in the cases of Kibum and Jjong even sometimes blow kisses. It’s always a fight won.

“Did you notice we’ve got summer-tires?” Kibum asks while we continue going south at decent speed and then laughs at Jjongs puppy face.

The atmosphere is much lighter since we’re all together now. We’re talking and fooling around and especially Taemin and Jjong seem to be relieved and almost cheerful.

Minho tells us to check our phones for messages that might have gone unnoticed during the mess at the airport but none of us got anything. Then Taemin asks Kibum:

“By the way, what happened to your Prada bag?”

“I left it behind”, Kibum says darkly and Jjong wild-eyed draws an exaggerated breath and covers his mouth:

“Aren’t you heartbroken?” he asks.

“Totally.”

We discuss the possibilities to change vehicles again, not just because of the tires but because about 300 people have seen us in this one. Jjong scans the internet for nearby car rental services when my phone rings. It’s them again. The chipmunk voice asks:

“Are you on your way?”

“Yes”, I say.

“Is Key there too?”

“Yes, we’re complete.”

There’s giggling in the background again and then whispers.

“Do you have the money”, the voice asks, “and the shirts?” More giggling and something that sounds like “Oh my God” again.

I confirm both. We’re all listening intently trying to catch as many details as possible.

“What an annoying bunch of little freaks”, Kibum suddenly says aloud. We look at him startled and the voice on the phone says:

“That was him, that was Key, right?”

Kibum motions to me to hand him my mobile. I want to give it to him but Minho shakes his head, concerned.

I say:

“Yes, that was Key. Please give us the details for the rendezvous point now.”

There is a short silence at the end of the line, then whispers again. Apparently someone else takes the phone and says harshly:

“We will tell you soon enough. And you better shut up Key or we will hurt Yoogeun.” Giggles again

Minho looks ready to hit Kibum but Taemin holds him back.

The kidnappers hang up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Minho snarls at Kibum.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Key asks back, “they are manias, freaked out fans, probably girls, probably younger than us.”

“You don’t know that for sure”, Jjong says.

“100.000.000 won? You gotta be kidding if you believe they’re after money. You couldn’t even buy a decent get-away car for that.”

“Maybe a Daewoo”, I say before I can stop myself and everybody throws me a look.

“I don’t care who they are”, Minho says angrily. “As long as they got Yoogeun we have to do as they say and we definitely shouldn’t provoke them.”

Kibum looks like he’s biting back a sharp reply. Then he nods and agrees:

“You’re right, I’m sorry. We have to think about Yoogeun first.”