A/N: This is cheesy and stupid, I know, and I'll probably end up deleting it at some point. But I'm feeling really sentimental at the moment :') It's sort of a testament to the amount of love I have for SHINee...because sometimes I feel like I have to explain myself, and this was the easiest way. ALSO I WANT A SHINEE COMEBACK ALREADYYYYY ;_;

Jinki felt as if he could burst with pride as he looked around at his band members, right before their first comeback stage since their Japanese promotions. They had all grown up so much.

There was Jonghyun, who had matured not only in looks but in temperament, and now modestly used his talent to help others while still striving to achieve his personal best when it came to singing, dancing and performing in general. He knew he was one of the most talented idols out there, but even with all the outside speculation about whether or not he should go solo, he remained loyal to SHINee and still gave one hundred percent to all of their group activities. Jonghyun was definitely the member that had given the most stress to Jinki; there had been his leg injury, which he had not taken well and which had made him depressed enough to regret becoming an idol altogether, and then of course there was his brief scandal with Shin Sekyung, which for a short period of time left them all wondering whether SHINee could ever continue in the same way again, what with all the outrage from their company and the fans. Jonghyun had found the necessary strength, however, and he was able to overcome all of these difficulties, coming out on the other side with a whole new outlook. He was no longer the young, volatile lead vocalist who let his emotions control him almost to the point of selfishness, but had evolved into a caring, sensible adult whom Jinki knew he could depend on.

Kim Kibum was still outspoken and opinionated as usual, but he had calmed down a lot and the difference now was that he would always consider the feelings of others before speaking. He was the true backbone of SHINee, in Jinki's opinion; he was the one that kept them motivated, putting his own needs second and making sure the members stayed happy and organised. It was one of Jinki's greatest worries that people underestimated Kibum's many talents, from his unique rapping style to his flawless dance moves. He was afraid that Kibum's diva image was a result of his insecurities, a façade he put on to stop himself from being outshone by Jonghyun's powerful vocals or the maknae's natural dancing ability. But Kibum continued to smile and practise his hardest, and Jinki couldn't help but smile back as he watched the third oldest member grow into a truly beautiful human being inside and out.

Minho was the member whose growth, Jinki felt, was the most obvious. In just a few short years he had transformed from the shy, quiet member who stood out mainly because of his looks to the confident, almost leader-like star of reality shows that he was now. He had always been known in interviews for his mature yet slightly superior outlook on life, but Jinki knew that his competitive nature and sometimes aloof manner were all a part of his uncontrollable desire to be the best he could be. He would never be satisfied with second best. For longer than the leader could remember, Minho had been practising harder than anyone else to improve his singing and dancing abilities in order to prove that he wasn't lacking in any of his talents. Anti-fans would say that he was a useless member, that he didn't contribute to SHINee as much as the others did; what these idiots didn't know or care about was that while Minho may not have been in the spotlight every time they went on stage, he worked just as hard if not harder than the other members to contribute to the performance and make sure it lived up to the fans' expectations. His was another talent that Jinki felt was often underestimated, from his sweet singing voice to his outstanding song-writing ability. He got very little credit for writing the raps for almost every song on the Lucifer album, but he would never boast about this or even bring it up, it just wasn't in his nature. Out of all the members, Jinki had found it hardest to get closest to Minho when they first met. But in time his warm personality had shone through and now Jinki couldn't imagine being closer to his own brother.

And then there was the adorable maknae, Taemin. When Jinki thought of the nervous, awkward child that had first approached him on the rooftop of the SM building all those years ago and compared him to the shining idol that he'd become, he couldn't help feeling like a mother whose child had won an award at school for the first time. Taemin had always been an outstanding dancer, no-one could deny that, but it was when he started putting just as much effort into his singing and other talents that he began to really stand out as a performer. He possessed an inner drive and determination which would be impressive in a person twice his age, and which Jinki himself envied. He had grown not only as a performer but also as a person. All through his career as a trainee and member of SHINee, he had been forced to cope with the stresses of going through that awkward transition from child to teenager, from teenager to adult. And yet he didn't let it phase him; he focused all of his efforts on their busy schedule and practised hard enough to keep up with his hyungs who were all significantly older and more experienced than him. The result was that despite his youth and innocence, he'd become an all-round talented artist whose professionalism could rival that of someone who'd been in the industry for twice as long. All of this without changing his personality one bit; he was still as optimistic and cute as ever, and sometimes his cheerful smiles were the only thing that kept Jinki going when he was feeling particularly low.

As for Jinki, he was just happy to be here. There wasn't a day that went by when he didn't feel so unbelievably lucky to be a part of such an amazing group, to be achieving his ultimate dream with the four people he respected and cared about the most. He had gained so many fond memories, from their debut with 'Replay' right up until the preparations for their new album. Naturally, he couldn't help but look towards the future, to new songs and activities and possibly even debuting in Europe or America. But whatever happened from now on, he was satisfied to be able to look back on his career so far with no regrets. And as he heard the shouts from the crowd, cheering from fans who had been there for SHINee since the beginning, as he walked out onto the familiar stage, with Jonghyun and Key and Minho and Taemin, Lee Jinki didn't think there could be a single person on the Earth who had ever been happier than he was at that moment in time. SHINee was, and always would be, his life. And he was never letting go.