“Juhyeon-ah can I borrow your phone?” said Taemin.
“Ah, neh~” replied Juhyeon, stood up to grab her phone by table and handed it over to Taemin. Taemin bowed and excused himself to his room. He dialed in Onew’s number and gave him a ring.
“Yeoboseyo? Who’s this please?”
“Onew-hyung, it’s Taemin”
“Taemin-ah! Thank God you’re alive! Where have you been? We haven’t been hearing from you for nearly a week, tabloid writers have been making up stories about your disappearance. Everybody’s been so worried. Why weren’t you answering your phone?”
“Sorry, I dropped my phone in the bus I took some 3 days ago. I’m in Daegu right now, just escaping the city life so please clear up the rumors for me, I want to stay low-key before my life gets busy again”
“I see. I did the same thing back then during one of our long breaks. Where are you staying?”
“Yeah I remember that, netizens thought you were quitting SHINee. Listen, it’s a long story but can you promise me not to tell the others, especially Key-hyung he’s gonna freak. I’ll just tell the rest of them when I get back”
“Ok go, I’m listening”
“I was on the way to an inn somewhere in this neighborhood when I got attacked by alcoholics---”
“You were what?????”
“Calm down, hyung. Let me finish”
“Go on..”
“I got hit on the head with a bottle, passed out. But luckily for me, a nurse’s daughter took me in and treated me. I’ve been staying in her home for two days now”
“Woah woah woah, so you mean to say you’re staying in a lady’s house?”
“Um…yeah?”
“Alone with her?”
“Well, not right now, she has guests over”
“Ahhhhhh, I see what’s happening here. Taemin-ah’s really a man now hmmm?”
“Aish. It’s not like a had a choice, I passed out, she was hospitable enough to let me stay and she’s not letting me go out until----”
“Not letting you go? Wow, pretty possessive for two days”
“Ya shut up it’s not like that! Let me finish”
“Okay, sorry go on”
“She has to treat me until I fully recover”
“So what’s this girl like? Is she pretty?”
“She’s angelic and simple. Smells like flowers”
“Jackpot!”
“Aigoo, jinjja…”
“Taemin-ah, I don’t know this girl and what will happen between you and her but this is the first girl you’ve spent time with one in a long time. Be a good gentleman” Onew said in a more serious tone.
“She’s a genuinely kindhearted girl and she’s pretty fragile. She was kind enough to take me in and care for me even if she doesn’t know me. So, might as well be good to her while I stick around”
“For you to say such things, it seems like you two have made a connection already. Be a good man, Taemin. Don’t forget to play the piano for her”
“Oh…okay…” Taemin said hesitantly. He was bothered by the way Onew was talking to him and giving him advice as if Juhyeon was his girl. What makes it more awkward is that they both just met. Truth is, Taemin was starting to enjoy his friendship with Juhyeon the more he learns about her. Deep down inside Taemin, he wanted to stay at Juhyeon’s for the rest of his schedule break. He figured it was going to be more exciting to have companions who doesn’t know about his fame.
“Well, they’re calling me out now. I’m in set shooting my new fried chicken CF (commercial film). Gotta go! I hope she treats fully until you forget your last lover” said Onew then immediately hung up the phone.
 

“Last lover?? Hyung what lover??” said Taemin but it was too late, as Onew had already ended the call.

“Last lover?....” Taemin wondered to himself. Taemin doesn’t remember having a serious lovelife these past many years. He wasn’t meeting any girls back in Seoul recently either. Onew’s last sentence lingered through his head, creeping into a hole in his memory. Taemin doesn’t remember having a girl of his own but what Onew said made him feel otherwise. He felt like he was forgetting something that was once important to him; someone. Onew talked as if that last lover was a disease to him, relating it to Juhyeon’s treatment. He felt a gap in his mind, like a piece of his memory sank deeply into his brain, lost in his thoughts. He felt like someone left a door unclosed in his heart but he didn’t know who it was. The stress and frustration that grew inside his mind pushed against the walls of his head. Taemin then felt a throbbing pain on the side of his head, his shoulders started to feel strained and his hands grew cold in sweat. This caused Taemin to lie down in bed. He continued to dig in his memory box. Suddenly he remembered something that Juhyeon said the previous day.
 

“There are still chances that you have minor memory loss but we’ll see as you recover”

“I have to tell Juhyeon” said Taemin, as soon as this thought came into mind. After all, Juhyeon was already in charge of treating and observing him, all he has to do was be a ‘responsible patient’. The paranoia brought by that thought was killing him so Taemin immediately exited the room with the phone in his hand. He got into the living room and caught Juhyeon, Joy and Yeri having a tickle fight on the couch. Their rough play was interrupted as soon as Taemin stood by the living room wall. Juhyeon saw how sweaty and worn out Taemin had gotten so she started to worry. The sweat had blended with the ink on his face, making him look greasier. She was worried that this was an after effect of his injury. Taemin gestured to her to come closer and immediately walked up to him.
“Oppa-ya, what’s seems to be the problem?” Juhyeon said softly as she placed her hand on Taemin’s forehead to check his temperature. Taemin’s skin was warm and wet at the same time.
“Juhyeon-ah, I have to tell you something” said Taemin as he handed Juhyeon her phone.
“Neh oppa?”
“Remember telling me about the possible after effect of the impact on my head? Well….I think I have memory loss”
“How come?”
“I called my hyung and he told me something that struck me a lot. He spoke of what seemed a memory that was stuck on me badly but I couldn’t remember what it was”
“How are you feeling?”
“My muscles feel tense, my head is throbbing and my hands are sweating”
“Oppa, go take a shower. I can see how much stress has gotten into you from thinking of whatever your hyung has told you. You need to cool off. Try to forget about it. Let’s watch a movie with Joy and Yeri later and have some fun araso? Let’s talk about that later when we’re alone. Give yourself some time to breathe first. The emotions are still fresh. Thinking about it more will just make your head hurt” said Juhyeon, being all motherly. Taemin was relieved to hear these from Juhyeon. It calmed him down somehow that Juhyeon immediately came up with something to try to get it off his head. If it weren’t for her, he might have been stressing about it all day.
“Araso, Juhyeon-ssi…..But how could I take a bath with this?” asked Taemin while pointing at his injury.
“There’s a pack of shower caps in the cabinet of the shower area, wear two to make sure. Tuck your hair in properly and don’t remove the bandage. There’s a blue towel there, it’s unused and you can use it. Also, there’s a face cleansing cream that has a cooling effect, put that on so your face won’t feel tired. Clear your mind okay?”
“Kamsahamnida, Juhyeon-ssi” said Taemin, gave a slight bow to Juhyeon then headed to the bathroom to take a shower right away. Juhyeon then went back to the couch where the other girls were.
“Eonnie, what’s Taemin-oppa’s problem?” asked Yeri.
“It was something regarding his head injury, it seemed to have an after effect. He was so tensed that I told him to cool off and take a shower” said Juhyeon.
“Shower mwahahahaha” Yeri laughed in her head, excited that Taemin was finally going for a bath. She hoped that Taemin would wash off the ink on his face so that his true beauty would be revealed to Joy.
“Was it a mental effect?” asked Joy, worried that Taemin might go nuts and harm Juhyeon.
“Neh, but it’s just memory loss. Partial memory loss” replied Juhyeon. Joy gave a sigh of relief.
“That’s good, at least nothing psycho is going to happen to him. It’s great also that he’s going for a shower. He looks icky” said Joy.
“Girls, try to keep him comfy later okay? He’s been stressed over a memory that seemed to be important to him that’s why his head is hurting. Try not remind him of it either” requested Juhyeon. The two girls then nodded.
“Eonnie, to be honest, I had a very bad first impression of Taemin-oppa because he looked dirty. I was disappointed. But he was so nice that I forgot about it. I can’t believe he gave up his chicken for me. No guy has ever done that for me. It was sweet” said Joy, who blushed as she reminisced the moment.
“Yes I saw. I was glad. You know, Joy, he was also like you. He’s the youngest boy in his group, he also longed to be the older one and I guess that explains why he was so sweet towards you and Yeri” replied Juhyeon with a calm smile on her face.
“Yeah oppa gave up food for us twice today. But how come when Joy became my eonnie, we both got worse?” asked Yeri. Juhyeon tickled the both of them, releasing their cute giggles throughout the house.
“You guys may be evil and 2 times more mischievous, but you’re still both very sweet” said Juhyeon then gave her two dongsaengs a warm hug.
“Saranghae Baechu-eonnieeee” said Joy and Yeri in perfect sync as they cuddled up Juhyeon. Juhyeon sank into their hugs, especially into Joy’s.

*ding-dong!*

Juhyeon got very startled by the doorbell. “Omo, who’s by the door?” she said in satoori.

Joy rushed to the window to take a peep at who was by the door.
“Wendy-eonnie and Seulgi-bear?? Wow, how early” said Joy while peeking out the window. Yeri then immediately opened the door for the two new guests.
“Yeri-ah!!” squealed out Wendy while Seulgi was still half asleep, like she just dragged herself to walk. Yeri then lunged at the both of them to give them a big hug. Wendy and Seulgi left their shoes by the door then proceeded to enter the house where they were greeted by Joy and Juhyeon standing by the couch.
“Hello Irene!” greeted Wendy, calling Juhyeon by her favorite nickname. She then gave Juhyeon a big warm hug, squeezing the life out of the little girl; Seulgi greeted with a faint “annyeonghasseyo”, dropped her bag on the floor, sat on the couch and immediately took a nap while hugging her tube of Pringles.
“Annyeonghasseyo, I missed you guys” Juhyeon sweetly greeted back.
“Baby Joy, did you tell Irene about our dinner?” asked Wendy.
“Neh, eonnie” replied Joy. Wendy then flashed a point and a wink at Juhyeon.
“Kamsahamnida Wendy-ah” said Juhyeon, poking Wendy’s nose.
 “Excuse me guys, I’ll just go wash my face, all the walking got me tired” said Wendy and ran immediately to the bathroom.

As she got to the bathroom door she twisted the knob and realized that it was locked.
“Locked? But how, who else is here??” Wendy thought to herself. “All 5 of us were at the living room. How come someone’s inside the bathroom?? That’s so weird” She placed her ear on the door to listen to what was going on inside the bathroom. She heard some high-pitched, harmonious humming along with the sound of the running shower.
“Auntie might be here for a visit” thought Wendy and continued to listen. Suddenly the humming stopped and so did the shower. Wendy immediately pulled her ear away from the door and quickly composed herself, preparing to greet whom she thought was Juhyeon’s aunt.
The door opened and a silver-haired man with fair skin, a well-toned body and a pretty face came out wearing only a thick and long towel around his waist. Both Wendy and the man stood still. Their eyes met and grew huge; they both froze in front of each other, not knowing how to react. Taemin then immediately ran towards his room, locked the door and Wendy quickly went inside the bathroom to do her business. She splashed her face with water and patted it until it dried with the face towel that she brought along. She then squeezed her cheeks together in embarrassment and utter shock. Her eyes remained widely open. She couldn’t believe what she just saw. She wasn’t even able to react, everything happened quickly. She wasn’t sure whether she was seeing things or there was really a guy in Juhyeon’s house; A shirtless guy. It’s not like she hasn’t seen shirtless men before either. She was from Canada and has seen her athlete friends running around the gym shirtless. What astonished her was the fact that out of the other 4, Juhyeon was the last person she expected to let a guy inside her home. Wendy tried to recall the face of the guy because she knew there was something familiar about him. Wendy was a singer-songwriter so she was very fond of musicians, artists and performers. She knew that she saw this guy’s face somewhere; he looked like no ordinary guy. Wendy immediately ran to the living room to seek an explanation about what she just saw. As soon as she got there, she stood in the middle, looking like she just got haunted. Everyone looked at Wendy with baffled faces. Joy and Yeri (who were making fun of Seulgi as she slept) shook Seulgi to wake her up but she resisted and tried to go back to sleep.

“Guys, why is there a hot guy in the house??” asked Wendy with the widest eyes ever.
“A guy in Juhyeon’s house??” Seulgi quickly rose up after hearing Wendy’s question.
“Yes and fresh from the shower” replied Wendy.
“Ooooh busted” said Joy. Awkwardness flowed around the living room after Wendy broke out the question. Juhyeon just kept quiet. She forgot that Taemin was taking a shower. She felt so embarrassed that Wendy had to see Taemin in such a manner.
“That’s Taemin-oppa!” excitedly yelled Yeri.
“Taemin-oppa?? You met this guy??” said the clueless Wendy.
“Neh!” replied Yeri.
“Wait, Joy didn’t you like an idol named Taemin back then??” asked Wendy.
“Omo, if this were the same Taemin, I’d melt. He’s the best dancer in his group. But it would be really farfetched for him to be in Baechu’s house” said Seulgi.
“Yeah, and I heard he’s a superstar now. But the guy you saw just now? I don’t think that’s him, so don’t freak out. He’s very sweet though” said Joy.
“He’s really pretty, like an idol so I thought maybe it was him...” said Wendy.
“He looked like an ajhussi awhile ago” replied Joy.
“He is pretty! Maybe you’ll see now that he took a bath” Yeri then told Joy.
“Guys, I know it’s really awkward and unusual for me to let a guy stay and you know that I never talk to guys but I had no choice” voiced out Juhyeon in order to clear things up with her guests and to avoid misunderstandings.
“Eonnie had to treat his head wound, he got attacked and was left unconscious on the sidewalk the other night” explained Yeri to back Juhyeon up. Juhyeon noticed that Yeri had been explaining on her behalf so well since this morning. Juhyeon whispered to Yeri, asking her to explain the situation for her in which the younger girl agreed on. After that, Juhyeon walked to Taemin’s room to check if he was feeling better while the 4 other girls in the living room continue to talk about the “hot guy in Baechu’s house”. Juhyeon would also want to introduce Taemin to the rest of her friends. If the four of them were going to stay over for the night along with Taemin, Juhyeon might as well make her guests comfortable with him (and vice-versa). Juhyeon understands how shocked her friends are but it gets pretty tiring to explain over and over again and that’s exactly why she trusted Yeri to do it for her. It was a relief for her that she had a very tiny circle of friends to explain to, and that she knows that her girls would understand her right away. But she can’t escape the fact that they will freak out first before understanding.

*knock, knock, knock*
“Oppa, gwenchanayo?” asked Juhyeon after knocking on Taemin’s door.
“Juhyeon-ah, just a sec. I’m still dressing up”
“Ah joseonghamnida, take your time…..hey listen, I’m sorry Wendy had to see you like that, she didn’t know you were here”
“Wendy? So that’s the name of the girl who was waiting by the bathroom awhile ago. Startling how a new girl pops out of nowhere by the hour, but meh I was an unexpected guest too so I don’t have the right to complain haha”
“Yeah, the rest of my friends are here now. I’m surprised as well”
“Wow, so I guess it’s a full-blown sleepover now”
“Yeah, Yeri brought everyone along. Kid’s full of surprises” said Juhyeon. Taemin then opened the door. He was in his black Adidas track pants and a nicely fitted graphic white tee. His face was cleaner and brighter than how it looked before the shower. He smelled so good like the body wash in her bathroom. Taemin looked nervous that he had to introduce himself again to a new set of people. The two just stared at each other until Juhyeon took his hand and quickly pulled him to the living room.
“C’mon oppa” said Juhyeon as she pulled the hesitant Taemin who had no choice but to go along in order to be polite to everyone. Juhyeon was so eager to introduce him because she wanted to end whatever issue was brewing among her and the girls. She was eager to put an end to all the explanations. As they got there, Taemin saw Joy and Yeri huddled up with two other girls, looking like they were caught up in deep gossip while holding their phones. He knew it was a byproduct of his unfortunate meeting with Wendy. Taemin felt more uneasy.
 

“Guys!” exclaimed Juhyeon to get the girls’ attention. Everyone looked at Juhyeon and saw Taemin right beside her. Jaws dropped as they saw the guy whom they were just talking about. Their eyes widened and they were totally speechless as they stared at Taemin. Taemin got curious why nobody was speaking, until he realized that he took a bath and unconsciously washed off his disguise. Taemin shook in fear, covered his mouth with his hand and slouched a little. Juhyeon was totally bothered by what was happening. The girls weren’t talking and Taemin was suddenly covering his face like an escaped convict. This worried Juhyeon. It was all strange.
Juhyeon cleared and said, “Um guys?...”
“B-bae-baechu eo-eonnnn-ie….do you kn-know who th-that guy is?...” stuttered Wendy while her shakily pointing at Taemin.
“Guys, this is Lee Taemin. He’s the guy I told you about. He’s staying here for a while as I treat his injury” said Juhyeon.
“S-so it i-is him!” squealed Seulgi, she was so starstrucked but she was doing her best to control her emotions.
“AND. HE’S. SO. PRETTY.” said Joy who was so dumbfounded. Juhyeon was so weirded out by what Joy had just said. It’s like Joy had seen him for the first time. She was so surprised that Joy had a quick change of mind on her opinion on his appearance. Joy felt so guilty for doubting Yeri too. She couldn’t believe that the “greasy ajhussi” from a while ago turned out to be her first love.
“Uh guys what’s going on?..” asked Juhyeon who was starting to feel sort of scared why her friends were suddenly acting this way. Taemin froze in his spot and just looked down, for he knew he had no escape anymore. He knew his secret is already out. He knew that his vision of a simple getaway might not remain as simple as he intended it to be.
“BAECHU-EONNIE! THAT’S LEE TAEMIN!” said the 4 girls in union and from that moment on, Taemin knew he was screwed.
“Yeahp, say goodbye to that escape from the limelight” Taemin thought to himself as he facepalmed in disappointment.
“Um yeah, I just….told you his name” said Juhyeon who was getting more and more disturbed by the girls’ abnormal responses
“I told you so!” screamed Yeri, agitating the girls’ squealing even more. They looked like as if they were at some concert and this was starting to embarrass Juhyeon.
“GUYS!” screamed Juhyeon. The girls immediately kept quiet. Juhyeon never raises her voice like that but she didn’t sound furious or angry. She screamed because she was pressured. Juhyeon took a deep breath to cool down and calmly said, “Girls, please tell me what’s really up?? Taemin-oppa I’m sorry about this..”
Taemin just kept quiet and stared on the floor, waiting for someone to drop the bomb.
“B-baechu eo-eonnie.” said Seulgi.
“Mwo?” Juhyeon responded eagerly.
 

“T-the Lee T-Taemin beside you…is….um….the top K-idol we were talking about”