Chapter Seven

That morning Adri and Amanda talked and talked. Amanda gave a detailed account of her little pool party with Onew and Adri gushed about her upcoming date with Yunho. The sun was shining brightly when they went to bed.

At 3PM Adri hopped in the shower, and went downstairs with Amanda to have 'breakfast.' They were heading back up to their suite when they ran into all five members of Shinee.

“Hey Amanda!” Onew greeted brightly. “What’re you up to?”

“Just finished breakfast,” Amanda responded.

“At three in the afternoon? That’s a little late,” Key blurted out. Onew flushed a deep shade of red, and elbowed his friend in the side. Key was way too blunt. Onew had woken up late, and was questioned by the other members of Shinee. None of them knew about his early morning swim with Amanda. To change the subject, Onew formally introduced everybody.

Taemin smiled cheerfully and bowed to Adri and Amanda, Minho uttered a quiet greeting, and Key stated sarcastically, “We’ve already met, right?” He stared at Adri who laughed uncomfortably in response. Everyone knew what he was referring to.

Onew cleared his throat to break up the tension, “Adri, it’s really nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” The young girl replied, smiling. She peeked over Minho’s shoulder and spotted Jonghyun. His attention was elsewhere, and he was being uncharacteristically quiet. Adri realized that he hadn’t even greeted her. “Hi Jonghyun,” she said.

Jonghyun glanced at her, but didn’t reply. He didn’t even smile.

“I keep forgetting you two already met!” Onew chirped enthusiastically.

“Speaking of that, when did you meet Amanda? You two seem awfully familiar,” Key pointed out.

“Yeah…” Taemin agreed with a look of confusion.

Onew gulped. 

“We know each other because of Changmin!” Amanda said quickly. It wasn’t really a lie. At the pool Onew said something about Changmin being “right” about her, so she must have been a topic of conversation at some point in time.

“So Changmin actually introduced you two?” Key asked, raising an eyebrow.

Amanda didn’t know what to say now. Why does he need the details?!

Another awkward silence enveloped the group of young adults until Minho said, “Sorry, but we have to go. We have a variety show in an hour.”

“I almost forgot!” Taemin exclaimed, his innocent, dark eyes widening. He turned to leave, but remembered his manners. “Have a good day!” Taemin said with a boyish smile. He bowed to the two girls before running off. Adri and Amanda exchanged glances…his aegyo was amazingly effective.

“Bye Amanda. Bye Adri,” Onew said. Minho just nodded politely and left.

Jonghyun turned to leave, but Adri tapped him on the shoulder. “Um…hey. Are you feeling OK?"

Jonghyun stared down into her questioning eyes, and images from that morning attacked his mind. His fingers tingled as he remembered touching Adri’s arm, her face- even her waist! Jonghyun turned red. He couldn't talk to her! So he looked at the floor, allowing his bangs to cover his eyes, and practically ran away.

Adri’s mouth dropped open as she watched Jonghyun disappear.

“Wow…” Amanda said after a few seconds. “What’s wrong with him?”

“I…I don’t know…” Adri murmured, shocked.

Amanda sighed and asked, “Something happened this morning right? Besides Yunho asking you out…”

Adri smiled weakly and nodded. She had left her slow dance with Jonghyun out of their earlier conversation, because it was too embarrassing to talk about.

“Tell me later. You’re gonna be late for your date,” Amanda instructed, turning to leave.

“Oh my God! You’re right!” Adri exclaimed. She was about to follow her friend, when the small door next to her opened by itself. Adri opened to scream, but a hand shot out of the darkness and yanked her in.

“Shhh…” Someone whispered, putting a hand over Adri’s mouth. She realized that she had been pulled into a tiny utility closet before the door was shut. Thrown into complete darkness, Adri’s heart began to race.

Am I being kidnapped?! She panicked. The hand over pressed down harder. It was soft and smooth, but Adri could tell it belonged to a man.  Oh God!  Her mind screamed.  He’s going to try and assault me in this dirty closet!  Adri’s heart continued to ricochet off her ribcage, but she wasn’t about to go out without a fight. She opened and bit the man’s hand. Hard.

“OW!!!” He yelled, pulling his hand away. Adri didn’t waste any time. She tried to feel around for the door knob, but the man was quick and grabbed her arm. “Calm down!” He shouted. “I’m not trying to kill you!”

Adri stopped struggling. Why was his voice so familiar now that he was talking?

“It’s me.”

Adri’s throat felt raw. “Key?!”

~~~

Amanda turned around and Adri was gone. “What?” She mumbled. “Adri? Where are you?” Amanda listened carefully, and heard some muffled noises coming from nearby. She was about to investigate when she felt someone come up behind her. It was Changmin.

“Hey,” he said calmly.

Amanda forgot about Adri for a moment. “Hi…what are you doing here?”

Changmin nodded his head in the direction of the dining area and answered, “Food.”

Amanda nodded before sneaking a peak at her cell phone. It was almost four- what was Adri doing?

“Waiting for someone?” Changmin inquired.

“Um…not exactly…”

“You’re OK though, right? You know…because of last time?”

Amanda turned red at the embarrassing memory of her fainting the first time she met Changmin. “I’m fine,” she mumbled.

She was going to excuse herself and attempt to find Adri when Changmin said something that made her jaw drop. “Your friend is a DBSK fan, right?”

Amanda was stunned.

Changmin took one look at her expression, and snapped his fingers. “I knew it!”

“But…how?” Amanda whispered.

Changmin grinned and explained, “Adri's a terrible liar. She claimed that you saw a special on DBSK on the plane and that’s why you knew all of our names. But later, when her ipod was found in Key’s room, she said you were a huge K-Pop fan. It just didn’t add up, and her behavior was suspicious from the start.”

“How do you know that ipod isn’t mine?” Amanda asked suddenly.

“Because you have an ipod touch,” Changmin stated simply. “It fell out of your pocket when you fainted. I ended up putting it in your bag.”

Amanda knew Changmin was an observant person, but she was surprised he'd caught on this quickly.

“Then I talked to Key, and we both figured if it was your ipod what was Adri doing with it and why was she listening to Replay of all songs?” Changmin finished smoothly.

Amanda gulped, a little nervous for her friend. “So…are you going to tell Yunho?”

Changmin stared at her for a while before answering. “No.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to see how this plays out...”Changmin said. "I've always wanted to study an idol-fan relationship."

“Speaking of that, did Yunho tell you they had a date at four?” Amanda asked.

The lanky boy seemed genuinely surprised. “No. He didn’t tell me.”

“Well, Adri disappeared all of a sudden. I’m gonna go and look for her.”

Changmin touched Amanda’s shoulder gently. “Wait. Let me help.”

Amanda nodded, trying to swallow the lump in discreetly. Her shoulder was tingling. “Changmin?” She whispered, unable to raise her voice.

“Yes?”

“Can I…ask you something?” Amanda boldly inquired.

Changmin smiled lightly, his eager, brown eyes were set in a soft gaze. “Ask me anything,” he replied.

Amanda looked down at her boots, wishing he had told her no, and for a second she even lost her nerve. But then the young girl finally uttered, “Onew said…you were right about me. What did he mean by that?”

The smile on Changmin’s face disappeared almost instantly, and he no longer looked composed. “Uh…I’m not sure. Onew’s a crazy guy,” Changmin explained.

“Oh…”Amanda said slowly. Onew was probably just playing around.

“It’s four,” Changmin announced, promptly changing the subject. “Where should we start looking?”

Amanda shrugged, and answered, “Maybe Adri went back to the suite…”

~~~

Adri was definitely Key’s fan, but that didn’t change the fact that she wanted to deck him right now.

Key pulled on a long string that was dangling from the ceiling, and a small light bulb flickered on. He took one look at Adri’s face and instantly regretted his actions. Her eyes were wide, and her whole body was shaking.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Adri demanded.

Key pushed his feelings of regret aside and replied, “I wanted to talk to you in private.”

“And you had to drag me into a dark closet to do it?” Adri hissed. Her blood boiled at how calm he seemed.

Key thought about this. “OK…maybe it was a little dramatic but-”

“A little dramatic?!” Adri exclaimed. “Key, I thought you were going to assault me!”

“That’s your fault for jumping to conclusions!” Key shot back. He knew he was in the wrong, but he couldn’t stop himself. For some reason, Adri’s anger excited him.

“When someone forces you into a dark closet- what are you supposed to think?!” Adri shouted. Key fought the grin that threatened to take over his face.She must’ve been really scared, he thought. He liked seeing her like that. It was kind of cute.

“Whatever!” Adri snapped. “You can stay in here as long as you want- I’m leaving.” She opened the closet door and stepped out, but Key grabbed her arm once again, and forced her back in. “What’s your problem?!” Adri yelled.

“We haven’t talked,” Key simply stated.

Adri pulled her arm away, and pushed Key back. She was trying not to punch him. I can’t believe he’s like this in real life!

Key was taken aback by the little shove for about two seconds. He recovered quickly and asked quietly, “Is that any way to treat your idol?” His sharp eyes were sarcastic, and appeared black in the dim light.

Adri’s heart skipped a beat, but she tried to play it cool. “What are you talking about?”

“You already know…” Key whispered, leaning closer.

Adri took a shaky step back and knocked over an old mop. “H-huh?”

Key sighed and said, “Do you wanna keep acting innocent…or should I tell Yunho all about your lies?”

“Lies?” Adri squeaked. felt so dry…

“I heard you singing Replay back in my room. You knew all the words,” Key accused, grinning slyly. “It was very impressive. I even checked that little ipod of yours-”

“It’s not mine!” Adri shouted desperately.

“Hajima!” Key said loudly. “Enough with the lies.”

Adri shut her eyes. “I’m…sorry,” she whispered in English.

“You’re sorry?” Key also said in English. “Apologizing won’t stop me from exposing you to Yunho.”

Adri sighed heavily. “I…I deserve to be exposed. I shouldn’t have lied. I just didn’t want to be dismissed as another fangirl,” she confessed.

“But isn’t that what you are?” Key said plainly.

Adri glared at him and shook her head. “No. I do like DBSK...and I like Shinee, but I am not an obsessed fangirl!”

Key laughed. “Right. Give me your cell.”

“What?”

“Give me your cell or I’ll call Yunho right now and tell him everything. Do you think he’ll still want to go sight-seeing with you then?” Key threatened.

Adri’s mouth dropped open. How does he know these things?! She hesitated, but handed over her silver flip phone in the end. Adri just couldn’t give up sight-seeing with Yunho. All she needed was one more day. It would hurt, but Key could tell him tomorrow.

“Here,” Key said after a moment. He handed Adri her phone. “We’ve successfully swapped numbers.”

“Hold on! Why do you need my number?!” Adri exclaimed.

Key paused then responded, “You’ll figure it out soon enough.” He opened the door, and stepped out of the closet. “By the way, it was really nice getting to know you.”

Adri’s dark brown eyes narrowed as she watched the slender boy strut off. She groaned as she slid down into a kneeling position. “I can’t believe I’m being blackmailed by a member of Shinee…”

~~~

Author's Note: The dramatic conclusion to chapter seven! >:3 Key's being such a meanie, isn't he? But don't worry, he is definitely NOT the antagonist. Sorry it took so long to update...I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next one.

In fact, I'll update even faster if I get the usual helpful reviews. ;)

(Oh, and some of you probably raised your eyebrows at me focusing on Onew's hairstyle in this chapter. That is an inside joke, and will be explained in the future.)