u m b r a

Only fate herself knew why the two were chuckling nervously outside the door of the CEO's office: particularly when they had nothing to hide.

"We're not dating." Both Taemin and Luna denied in near perfect unison the moment they fell into the CEO's line of sight. A quick glance was exchanged between the pair out of how synchronized they both were, but neither of the two risked looking at each other at all, as to not make their boss anymore suspicious of them.

"... We're just friends." Taemin found himself repeating the same word from the previous night. 'Friends'. It was a word he didn't associate with merely anyone. The only people he could sincerely call his friends were Jongin and Ravi. Shinee were ruled out of Taemin's friendship book; he considered Shinee as practically blood brothers. Even Moonkyu, once his and Jongin's friend, had grown distant from him ever since he left SM to join another company.

It was still baffling to Taemin that he called Luna a friend so easily, as though they have been close for years as he was with Jongin. It was almost as though the term 'friend' didn't fit. 

"Just friends? How can you both explain the photo, then?" The CEO grumbled with evident annoyance as he rubbed his wrinkle-lined temples.

Much to Taemin's mild surprise, the girl stood beside him was quick to defend him. "I had cake in my hair and he took it out for me. The picture is misleading. His hand wasn't there for longer than half a second." Luna seemed surprisingly calm about the situation, which only made Taemin look like a trembling mess in comparison. 

"And how exactly do you recommend us to release a statement which such a stupid excuse?" The CEO tossed his hands up in the air ludicrously. "'Oh, Shinee's Taemin and f(x)'s Luna aren't dating at all! Luna just had cake stuck in her hair." The last comment dripped with more sarcasm than Luna would have liked. It was at this point when Luna's resolve crumbled, regretting even considering spending time with Taemin so carelessly.

"Do you want the company to look like a laughing stock?" The CEO pressed on ruthlessly, making every attempt to make both Taemin and Luna feel as guilty as possible. "SM is suffering with enough dating scandals this year as it is. It's getting increasingly harder to deny them all. The public will find us more untrustworthy than ever."

"... Then don't deny it." 

The suggestion seemed to engulf all the previous noise that lingered the room, a daunting silence swamping the room in its place. Both Luna and the CEO snapped their focus in Taemin's direction, his lips still warm from the words that escaped between them.

"What exactly are you suggesting here, Lee Taemin?" The amount of stress plastered on the CEO's face couldn't be ignored even by the most oblivious of people.

Yet Taemin only shot his glance up with the faintest spark of determination in his eyes. "I'm suggesting that I trust both mine and Luna's fan base to accept the idea of a relationship. Hear me out for a minute." Taemin faltered slightly as he peeked in Luna's direction, unsure of her readiness to accept his plan. Taemin swallowed. "What if we pretend that we date? It would save the company from having to deny it."

"But how would this benefit both of you? And what about your fans?" 

"I know my fans well. They're overprotective only if they don't approve of the girl or the situation. ... A few are crazily obsessive, but even the overly obsessive fans come to accept the girl I get paired with." The inquisitive as opposed to worried look on Luna's face boosted Taemin's confidence somewhat. "Shawols are known to be the calmest out of our company's followers. They cause the least trouble. I can't speak about Luna's fans, but I know that my fans would accept Luna because she has a good reputation. She hasn't had any distinctly or memorably bad publicity."

There was a painfully long silence after Taemin concluded his argument. He darted his glance towards Luna again, and from the millisecond he looked at her, he could swear that he saw the tiniest of smiles painted on her lips. 

The CEO considered this for a moment. "... I suppose that your relationship could be seen as promotion to both Shinee and f(x). And would get your names in the media too." 

Taemin jumped almost too quickly at the CEO's approval. "Yes! I-I mean, if that would be okay for the company. And yourself." The dancer felt giddier now than when he first walked through the door. He couldn't say the same for Luna, who remained dormant for the entirety of the discussion.

The elder man behind the desk let out a prolonged sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose in deep thought. "Fine. It's settled. There are bigger issues to attend to, regardless. Another dating scandal doesn't matter at this point." His intonation appeared defeated, despite accepting Taemin's plan. Perhaps it was the stress, or how SM dropped from being the top entertainment company in Korea last month. Neither Taemin or Luna was prepared to ask why.

"We'll release a statement later today, that you two have been dating for a few months already, in the first stages of a relationship, just getting to know each other, yada yada." The CEO spun his office chair towards his phone, jabbing a few dates into his calendar before addressing the 'couple' once more. Taemin and Luna both simultaneously cast each other a glance. "Act normal. Go out, obviously. And don't bother telling your members. They'll likely find out before you get to them, anyway."

...

"UPDATE: Taemin and Luna confirmed to be dating!"

SM Entertainment has confirmed that Shinee's Taemin and f(x)'s Luna are dating after a report from a popular media outlet last night. 

The '93 liners were said to be dating for a month, and are currently in the first stages of a relationship, according to a SM representative. The pictures taken by the media outlet consisted of the Shinee and f(x) member spending time with Taemin's friends in fest of his solo debut, before embarking of a date of their own once the celebrations were over. 

"We hope that the public watches over the two keenly as their relationship begins to blossom." 

"[+5207, -104] Daebak... the two actually look really good together..."
"[+4690, -26] Our Taemin is now truly a man ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ"
"[+2348, -56] The more I find out about them, the more they seem well suited to each other... both '93 liners and the powerhouses of their groups ㅋㅋ"
"[+1492, -208] Hulllllll. I'm a Taemin fan but they're a cute couple ㅠㅠ Congrats. Look after him, Luna unnie~"

...

The Shinee members were more accepting of his 'relationship' than Taemin imagined. A little too accepting, in his opinion, after being showered in confetti on the doorstep of the dorm. "Congrats on getting a girlfriend!" The musing of the elder men was loud enough to inform the rest of the world of the news, if they hadn't read about it already.

"Yeah, I came to tell you about it." Taemin shimmied past the assortment of men and glitter at the front door and made a beeline straight for the kitchen. It was only after noticing three members following after him was when Taemin realized that their leader was missing. "Where's Jinki hyung?"

"He's at his parents' place or something along those lines." Kibum shrugged, offering Taemin something to eat, which the younger surprisingly denied, instead helping himself to a glass of water instead.

"Well." Taemin shrugged, deciding to let the cat out of the bag without the eldest member present. "I just came back to say that I'm not actually dating Luna."

"... Eh? But what about that statement the company released?" Minho rebutted, much as Taemin expected he would. Only a lengthy sigh could follow out of Taemin's mouth, much like the CEO had done earlier that day. The dancer could understand now why the CEO was so... fed up, considering how he needed to explain several dating scandals in just that year alone.

"Look, it's a long story, but the short answer is that Luna and I are just friends, so don't go overboard, alright?" Downing the glass of water he poured himself earlier, Taemin set the glass aside, raiding the refrigerator for the food Kibum had offered him earlier. 

It was at this moment when Jonghyun finally spoke his words of wisdom, grinning from ear to ear at how kind fate was to the younger man. "Then why don't you properly ask her out? This is the perfect opportunity."

Taemin needed to do a double take at the elder male's plan, whilst Minho and Key could only laugh, for they were thinking the exact same thing. "W-wait what?"

"Just try it. Call her now. Who knows, you might even fall in love with her after a while."

...

There was a time when she had a crush on Shinee's leader. It was a fleeting love: an infatuation, she'd like to call it. She didn't know how he became her ideal type so quickly, nor why everything he did was so perfect to her. She figured it was the work of young love, when she babbled on live television about how the lead vocalist would make the perfect husband, or when she would profusely blush within his plain sight. The love for him faded when she noticed that he treated everyone else in the exact same way. 

That's why, when Jinki turned up on her doorstep, Luna's smile dropped from her face.

"Onew oppa?" She found herself using his stage name, distancing herself from him piece by piece over five years. "... What are you doing here--" 

"Is it true?" Was all he could let out, his voice somewhat breathless, as though he had just ran a mile. Yet, his chest did not heave with the lack of oxygen, and Luna couldn't spot a single bead of sweat on his skin. 

Luna soon came to realize that she didn't love Jinki because of who he is, but rather, because of the attention he gave her. The smiles she thought were specifically for her, all the whispers, the touches, the embraces: they meant nothing. It was a pity, she thought, that she fell for such a benevolent man: an angel who gave a piece of his heart to everyone around him.

She just wasn't special enough for him to give her more. "... Yes. It's true."

When her phone rings, she found her heart skipping a beat upon reading the name of the caller. And it wasn't for Jinki.

It was for Taemin.

...

a u t h o r ' s  n o t e

Omfg how late is this update cries. It's been like, half a year since I updated this fic ;;;;;; sorry for the wait, everyone! I actually had half of this chapter written up all those months ago, I literally just about had the time to complete it and publish it now ;A; Anyways, the usual drill: subscribe, comment, love! Hopefully I'll keep this fic up if people are still interested in reading it ♥