We Lost Those Memories -Chapter One ~
(nOOOOTES: The story is as accurate to their ages as I could get, but unfortunately I didn't want to write about their eventual debut in 2008, so it's going to be later. The reason for this is because I didn't want to write with 17 year old key, I wanted him older. Also, the concerts and such are probably not real. So some of the events are fiction, and family issues are fiction. The member's attitudes and traits are based off profiles and what I've seen though. I know this is going to be a long one. Should I throw in 2min? I don't know yet. Also, the members didn't really know each other before training. I made them childhood friends. :D Sorry for typoes and missing letters! Word's auto correct was noooot doing it's job, and my backlight on my keyboard is so dying)
Seven year old Minho galloped across the wild grass that grew in his special place. This was his only open space in all of Seoul that allowed him to run. His parents ran out of ideas to keep him contained, so they opted to moving to where there would be room for his everlasting energy. Still, their pride was overflowing. Their son would be a wonderful athlete one day, possibly appearing in the Olympics.
Minho was ecstatic with the move since it brought him closer to the others. He had the best friends in the world, if he should say so himself. Speaking of his friends, they were standing on top of the grassy hill, kicking a ball around their circle. The oldest, Onew, stood tall with a big, goofy grin on his face. Minho scoffed as the leader’s foot kicked too high and he backwards into the green. “Whatever he does, it’s Onew condition!” The group chanted. Minho slowed to a trot as he neared them, lifting a hand and meeting everyone else with a high five. Onew stood, laughing, and shook himself off.
“It doesn’t bother me if you laugh,” He replied merrily, “because I’m Onew!”
“What kind of response is that?” One of the smaller boys snapped, revealing himself from behind the group. He was a year older than Minho, yet he stood a good few inches closer to the ground. His name was Jonghyun, and his friends always called him a dinosaur because of his flaring nose and stocky neck. He also had an interesting temper, always lashing out and speaking much too often and much too quickly. Minho once caught his parents saying that if Jonghyun didn’t keep his tongue in check, he’d get in serious trouble one day.
“Hyung…” One of the quieter kids whined. His chocolate brown hair feathered over his forehead, highlighting his large and bright eyes. He had a hand up by his mouth, hiding his pout, and the other hand had found its way to Jonghyun’s sleeve, pulling him back. “Please don’t get riled up. You promised you’d be nice today.” Jonghyun looked back at the boy, sighed, and stepped back, taking his friend’s hand and holding onto it.
“Fine, Key. Have it your way,” Jonghyun said, starting down at his feet. Key smiled shyly.
This is how things always were. Minho would invite everyone out to play, Onew would get scolded by Jonghyun, and Key would bring Jonghyun back to being calm. The missing member of the group was Taemin, but Taemin was much younger and wasn’t allowed out of the house alone yet. The boys would usually go by his house and hang out with him in his room, so as not to leave him out. Key was the closest to Taemin. He behaved sort of like a mother would, always cleaning his face after eating, picking up thrown toys, and shushing Taemin when he got upset. Aside from Key, Minho felt he was the most protective of the kid. Being quite tall for his age, Minho though it was his duty to keep Taemin from things that may hurt him. Jonghyun was too sarcastic; Onew was too concerned with keeping things happy for everyone in general.
The boys played for hours in that field, with team Minho and Jonghyun coming out on top. Key felt he was about to cry from the humiliation, but Onew kept the smile on his face and skipped up and down the field, yelling out congratulations to the winners.
“Isn’t it about time to go see Taemin?” Key mumbled as he walked up to Jonghyun and Minho.
“Oh, cheer up Key,” Minho laughed, jumping around in victory. “It’s not like you haven’t lost to me before.”
“Hey!” Jonghyun growled, stepping up to Minho’s cheerful face. “You mean us. He lost to us. Don’t act like I didn’t contribute!”
Key was already halfway across the field, shuffling his feet as fast as he could. Frustrated, he didn’t even see Taemin and Taemin’s mom standing right in front of him.
“Key!” Taemin shouted, happiness outweighing on Key’s anger. Key ran to the child and hugged him, asking him all the basic questions. “Are you doing okay today? Weren’t you sick last week? Have you eaten? How long can you stay out? Do you want to go eat ice cream?” Taemin just stood there, nodding along. He rubbed his running nose against the back of his hand and offered the other to Key, who took it gladly.
Bowing to Taemin’s mother, Key asked, “Do you mind if Taemin and I go get some ice cream down the road? It’s rather hot and I’ve been running around all afternoon.”
She smiled, telling him it was fine and to watch out for cars. The two of them were already out of sight by the time the other 3 caught up. Jonghyun’s mood deflated when he heard that Key had left without him. The boys decided to stay and wait for the two to return.
Jonghyun didn’t realize then that he would have to wait on Key again in the future, but this time not knowing if the wait was worth it.
“It’s just not fair!” Taemin shouted, hitting the wall between him and Jonghyun. Now 12, Taemin was informed that he and his family would be moving to Canada in late June, only a month away. “They want me to go to high school there, so that I can go to a Canadian university and learn English. Do they think that just because my other friends left, I didn’t have reason to stay here?” Seeing Jonghyun’s expression, Taemin quickly said, “Not that I have no friends, Jonghyun. I still have you. And Onew. But Minho’s been in London for 3 years now, and Key’s been in Busan for 2. Next I’m going, and then what if we never see each other again?”
“We’re always going to be best friends, Taemin,” Jonghyun stated, sure of himself. “We’re inseparable. You’ll do good things in Canada, I know it. You’ve had us to keep watch over you for a while now, but trust that we raised you right.”
“It’s not as if you’re my parents,” Taemin retorted.
They were sitting in the laundry room in Jonghyun’s house. Onew was in the kitchen eating some left over KFC, dealing with the loss of Taemin in his own way. As leader, he felt that he had let them all down by not being able to keep them together was one. They had lost contact with Minho last year, when the letters started coming back as returns. Had he moved? And Key was quite busy and couldn’t visit often. Jonghyun had taken Key’s move quite hard, and Onew had suspected that perhaps Key was more than just a friend to Jonghyun. But there were still quite young, and he couldn’t quite tell.
“What if they call me a girl?” Taemin suddenly realized. “I’ve heard foreigners think we’re girly looking. Should I cut my hair? Grow some muscles?” Horror blanketed his face. “Will I have to give up dancing?”
“You’ll be fine, Jonghyun raised you as a man and that’s how you’ll turn out,” Jonghyun scoffed, waving away Taemin’s worries. “Once you hit a thing called puberty, you’ll become like me.” Taemin just stared at him. “You’re supposed to be happy.”
Onew opened the sliding door and stared down at the two. “Why is it so dark in here? You’re straining your eyes.” He looked at Taemin, who had tear streaks staining his rosy cheeks. Quickly closing the door again, Onew plopped down next to the crying child and slung an arm over his shoulder.
“It’ll be fine! We’ll meet again! I’ve been told that I’m a good singer, so I’ll get picked up by a company and become famous and I’ll come visit you and I’ll bring you back. Jonghyun’s going to start training as well, and he’s already in a band. Maybe you can come join us when you graduate?”
“I’m not a singer like you guys, though.” Taemin sniffed many times before he continued. “I’m just a dancer. Dancers don’t get very far.” He leaned into Onew. “It’s not like I can dance my way back across the ocean.”
Jonghyun and Onew remained silent, not really sure how to respond.
Taemin left for Canada in tears, with Jonghyun, Onew and Key coming to see him off.