~Chapter Eleven~

Threatened

Taemin's POV~

I lay the articles in front of me and put them in order by date. The articles range from the time I first transferred to the present time when I saved Minho hyung. Once again, I am a bit confused to how I should feel...Let's just say I don't like feeling like people are stalking me...One by one I read the articles. Most of them talk about how shocking it is for me to be switched and my whereabouts with SHINee. All of them are focused on SHINee and me...all but the article written by an anonymous person...My hands shake as I tightly hold onto the sheet of paper. “Who is Lee Taemin?” I read the headline aloud. I slowly read the article to myself and drop the paper. “Who wrote this?”

Minho's POV~

“♪ There is a place I'd like to go

Away from here all on my own

Where I can sing and dance all day

Where I can throw my pain away

There is a place where I will go

Away from here I'll go alone

Life or death I do not care

As long as I'm away from here...♪ ”

I jerk up, once again woken up by that song. I rub my temples and try to ignore the familiar song. I always hear it, every single time I fall asleep. I don't know where that song came from, but I can't help but get emotional every time I hear it. Whoever this person is, their voice is full or sorrow. I don't know why they wrote this, but every time the song ends, my heart leaps as if something bad will happen next, but of course, I always wake up next. It can't help but think that I heard that voice somewhere, but no one I know would since something so depressing. I mean, no one but Taeminnie...Ever since I realized that Taemin isn't dead and was lying to me, instead of being angry, I feel more sorry than ever. Taemin must have suffered because of me back then and since I don't remember what happened, I can't even apologize properly. His memory isn't back either, so even if I mention it, he wouldn't know anything either...

I look at the clock and turns out I only slept for two hours. It's 12AM right now and it's the weekend...Night market it is. I stretch, brush my teeth, and get changed. I haven’t had any time to myself in a while. SHINee has occupied my life and although I'm glad I have those friends, I can't help but want some alone time once in a while. Without telling my parents, I leave the house and run to the nearest busy street where I can find lots of awesome snacks. Maybe I'll even go to the arcade later? “Mandu here! Get some fresh mandu!” I hear a familiar voice. I turn toward that direction and see Taemin, attracting customers. I smile and put my hood on. “Eh hem,” I make my voice deeper. “Can I get one serving please?”

“Yes sir!” Taemin says happily and fries some up for me. In no time, he passes me a plate of them. “That will be-” I take off my hood and smile at him. “Hyung! I didn't realize it was you!”

“Hi, Taeminnie. I see someone's working hard.”

“Not that hard,” he chuckles. “I'll give you these for free. It's on the house!” Taemin is so cute now that he doesn't know that he hates me...I just want to pinch his cheeks.

“No, I'll pay. You deserve some tip money.” I take out my wallet and pass him extra money. “Keep the change.”

“Thanks hyung! But you paid enough for four plates...”

“Then how about you eat some too? My treat.”

“Eh hem, someone's chatty today,” an old lady walks out from behind the stand and smiles.

“This is Minho hyung, my friend. This is my boss,” Taemin introduces.

“Nice to meet you,” I say.

“Say, don't I know you from somewhere?” The woman asks.

“I don't think we've met.”

“I'm old, I could be wrong,” she laughs. “Enjoy the mandu young one, Taemin and I made them all from scratch.”

“I will!” I bow and ruffle Taemin's hair. “Wow you're working hard and you're maintaining great grades in school. I'm amazed.”

“I’m just that awesome!” Taemin does the victory sign. Some couples come and purchase a few servings. I smile as I watch Taemin diligently selling the dumplings. But a student shouldn't be working night shifts. He can barely stay up to do homework, not to mention staying late and selling food...This is all my fault isn't it? If only his father didn't die...“What's with the long face?”

“I think I should be heading home now. I'll enjoy these on my way back.” I wave and walk away from the stand.

“Walk home safely!”

“I will! See you Monday Taemin-ah!” Instead of heading home, I sit down at a vacant park and enjoy the hot plate of mandu. It's delicious! The dough is crunchy and the juice from the inside flows out as I bit it. The filling is still steaming and I've been sitting here for a while now. Wow, Taemin must have worked hard to make these...Beep. Beep. I pull my phone out of my pocket and read the text.

“Yummy?” Taemin texts.

“Delicious! :D” I reply.

“Hehe ^_^ I made them well~”

“Yes you did!” I reply with another thumbs up. “When do you make them?”

“We make them about two hours before the store opens. We fold a lot!”

“Can I come and help you some time :l ???”

“Of course!” Taemin replies. “But you better not mess up terribly =.=”

“It'll try not too! :P” I put away my phone and throw away the trash. I rub my tummy happily. It feels so warm inside!

After that night, every time at ten I would head out my house. I came to the stand every day and help Taemin make dumplings and sometimes even help him sell it. I was clumsy at first, but now, my dumplings at least don't look like crunched up balls anymore~ School has been the same ever since too. People continue fangirling over SHINee and Taemin has learned to fit in well. The competition is soon too. Everyone has their solo. Taemin has a dance solo, I have a rapping part, and everyone else has singing parts. Although I am a bit worried since Taemin and I still have to since chorus, I'm glad we're all working on it together. It makes me less nervous.

About Taemin's accident...I can't seem to find anything important. All files or articles say about the same thing. They all say Taemin fell off the outdoor climbing obstacle in our field. None of them wrote why or how he was there in the first place without supervision. What worries me most is the school article I found. No one knows who wrote it, but that article states a brief summary of our past. It says that we were friends, Taemin died, I left the school, and returned about the same time Taemin came back. The article questions whether or not Lee Taemin is the same person that was reported hospitalized and questions why no one has asked that question. I remember a month ago, there were always people staring at Taemin and me when we were walking in the hallways together, but I never kept it in mind. Does the school know more about the accident than I even know? I mean, it all happened in the school. There must be some files or something hidden about the incident...Most importantly, who is this person and why do they want to stir up trouble in SHINee? No one we talked to so far mention the accident. I'm sure it wasn't talked about in a while. Who would remember enough and have the idea of bringing this up again?

I enter the school building and nearly fall over as a ball goes flying toward my face. I duck just in time to avoid getting hurt. I run after the ball and look for the owner. No one is around here. I like heading to school early since there's rarely people around. Who would be here this early, throw a ball at me, and not claim it. I mean, it was an accident right? I wouldn't punch them or anything...I drop the ball and head into the building. It's strange, there are even less people than usual. I am only a hour early, why is no one here? I'm sure some students would come to school a bit early because of the bus...

“Whoa!” I yell as I fall over flat on my back. I rub my head and sit up. On the floor was a bunch of clear soap. “What the hell?” Shouldn't the janitors have cleaned the school last night? Why in the world is there a mess here? I get up and wipe the remaining goo off my shoes in the bathroom. The day has already started off so badly. First I nearly got hit in the face and now I fell...I open the bathroom door and immediately I get soaked. Across the wall is a slingshot with a bucket in the middle. The string was attached to the bathroom door and opening it would activate the sling shot. When did someone install this and why didn't I notice it before? Something's going on around here...I enter the classroom and nearly gasp out loud. The room is trashed. There was garbage laying on top of things, desks throw around, and the board had a note written in red: “YOU WILL PAY!” 

I will try to update more often. I realized that I have not updateed in a while and I am SO SORRY! I was working and totally forgot about some of my stories! Although school started, I will try and update once every week to make it up to you guys! Same goes with Burning History and I Like Him Because He's Gay He Likes Me Because I'm Lesbian! But ILHBHGHLMBIL won't be updated yet since I need to finalize some thoughts before writing...Please don't hate me!