I had to add this chapter in by time I went to bed tonight.  Just had that urge to write some more, you know?  Two chapters in one night?  My new record! :D

"YOU KNOW HENRY LAU?!"

"No," she whispered, "I used to know him.  There's a difference."

"BUT YOU KNOW HENRY LAU?!?!"

Gianna tried to calm him down.  "Shh!  You need to stop, Taemin."

He grabbed money from his pocket and left it on the table, then got up and grabbed Gianna's wrist.  "Where are we going?!"

"Back to the car.  You have some explaining to do."

Taemin and Gianna exited Babtol's and got into the car, driving back home.  He looked at Gianna and said, "Why didn't you say anything before?!"

"I didn't think it was important!  Was it?"

"Well... no.  But-"

"See?!  So I'm okay!"

Taemin made another pouty face and looked out the window.  "You should have at least said something."

Gianna shook her head.  I don't think he's ever going to let this down... or worse.  "What will you do if I tell you about Henry and I right now?"

"I'll be happy and I'll leave you alone about it," he replied, still looking out the window.  "I won't tell the guys and it'll be our little secret."

"And if not?"

"I'll tell the guys and you'll have to explain everything to me and them.  And then there might be some pranking involved.  And Onew and Minho would probably give you a hard time on Wednesday, since he's going to be there with Super Junior."

I'm screwed.  "FIINE.  I'll tell you."

Taemin quickly turned around and smiled the widest smile she had ever seen.  "FROM THE BEGINNING."

She chuckled.  "Okay.  Well, before I moved to the United States, I lived in Willowdale for most of my life.  Henry was actually my neighbor and we went to school together.  We didn't talk much until high school, and that's where we became best friends.  He's actually the one who introduced songwriting to Jack and I!"

Taemin smiled.  "So without Henry, you wouldn't be playing music, huh?"

"No, I wouldn't be, actually!" she chuckled, realizing that fact.  "Anyway, we were best friends for a few years.  We wrote music together and were put in a lot of singing competitions by our moms.  A lot of the time we got top 5, but we won a couple times.  Usually, he'd play his piano or violin and sing and I would play my guitar and sing.  It was a lot of fun and I miss doing it."

"Then why are you so scared to sing in front of us?"

She looked outside and shrugged.  "I don't know.  I guess what happened between Henry and I kind of stuck with me."

"And that would be...?"

"Well one day, Henry told me about a worldwide casting call SM Entertainment was doing and it was only for guys, but he asked me to go with him.  I was pretty jealous, since it was only for boys and I couldn't audition, but I had to support my best friend.  I had gone with him and he did phenomenal.  I saw those producers' and executives' faces and they were blown away.  And then a few weeks later, he got a call from SM saying they wanted him to help on an album."

Taemin nodded.  "Well, that was good for him, right?"

"Sure, it gave him exposure in something he was good at.  But he was... different when he came home.  Especially to me."

"How so?"

"After he went to Korea for the song he helped out with, he didn't treat me the same.  He was still nice to me and everything, but when it came to music, he was like my own personal Hitler.  We would play the songs we wrote and he'd tell me my pitches were wrong or that I was playing the wrong notes.  He'd make fun of my hair and makeup for performances and always try and make all the attention in the room towards him."  She started feeling her eyes fill with tears, but she tried holding them in.  I can't let Taemin see me cry already!

"Then he got another call from SM saying that he was recruited into a Mandarin pop group.  And when he came to my house to tell me, he was getting ready to drive to the airport.  I had thought that he'd invite me with him, but he came just to rub it in my face.  I didn't know what to say after that, but I accidentally yelled at him and told him never to speak to me again for all the mean things he had said to me after he came back.  And the last thing he said to me was Fine.  But know this:  I have always been better than you.  I mean, we were just kids, but I was so hurt by it that I haven't talked to him ever since.  I never asked for his number, didn't try tracking him down online... nothing."

Gianna rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears she had been holding in.  "So... that's what happened.  That's how I knew Henry Lau."

Taemin's jaw was probably down past the car's floor and dragging on the road by time she was done.  "And how old were you guys?!"

"Henry was 17 at the time.  So I was... 16?"

"Wow, Noona," Taemin said, just awed by the story she told, "I never thought Henry would do that!"

"Don't make this change your opinion about him," she replied, "I bet he's the same old Henry now.  The concept of him being famous was probably getting to his head."

He smirked.  "I guess so."

Gianna looked outside and saw that they were sitting outside the SHINee dorm.  "Wait, how long have we been sitting here?"

"Oh, for like... five minutes.  But I didn't want you to end the story!"

She shook her head.  Taemin and Gianna grabbed the groceries and got out of the car.  As they were walking up to the house, Taemin looked at Gianna and smiled.  "Thanks for shopping with me today.  And thanks for opening up to me about... you know."

They both stopped as Gianna set the groceries on the porch.  "You're welcome.  And thank you for the exciting shopping trip and banchan.  But the Henry story," she said, putting a finger on Taemin's lips, "doesn't pass these.  Or I'm going to give you hell when I start teaching."

Taemin nodded.  "Okay, you got it!  N-no passing h-here!"

Gianna smirked and picked up the groceries, then opened the door to a complete explosion of four half- guys, loud conversations, and clothes flying across the room.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"

Done again!  I couldn't wait to post this chapter up, so I did it now.  ANYWAYS, no more posting for tonight, but I have a surprise for the next chapter!  Can you guess what it is?  Love you guys and thank you so much for supporting this story so far! :D ~Carly