Jisookie
“Happy birthday, Taeminnie!!”
The quiet Shinee dorm suddenly burst out in cheers as the startled maknae came in and turned on the lights, the surprise birthday party of his life planned out for months by his hyungs falling perfectly into place.
Minho stood in the background with a smile as Jonghyun darted out and hugged the now-legal Taemin first before he went over and pulled his precious dongsaeng into his arms, tousling his hair like he always did. Taemin huffed at this childish gesture, but his face undoubtedly lit up when he saw the presents as well as games lined up for the evening, one of which involved his first taste of alcohol, after much discussion between Onew (being the best drinker in the group) and Key (being his usual self).
The room was filled with streamers and balloons thrown messily all over the place, and a huge banner with HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAEMIN written in bright letters. The members had taken 3 hours to decorate the room while sending Taemin on an errand somewhere, and they were quite proud, it being the last display for Taemin’s childhood and entering life as a young adult.
And yet, Minho didn’t feel as excited as he usually would be.
He celebrated a little with the other members but by the end of the evening he sat at the side, just watching them happily play the party games. He would usually find these games fun, being naturally competitive, but something was gnawing at the back of his mind he just couldn’t shake off.
“Hyung! Come try this, it tastes so weird!” Taemin laughed, coughing as he took a sip of a drink Onew had mixed for him. He held up the glass to Minho, but the older boy just smiled and shook his head.
“Don’t drink too much or you’ll get a headache later,” he said chidingly. Taemin rolled his eyes good-naturedly and laughed again.
Minho watched his bandmates for a few more moments before his hand unconsciously moved over the pocket of his trousers. He reached in and pulled out his phone, breathing a soft sigh.
11:26PM. Only about a half hour to go before July 18 was over.
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“Give me,” Jisook said boldly, holding out both hands at Key and Minho. Both boys reacted with confused blinking, which made her laugh. “Your phones! Give them to me so I can put in my number!”
Key exchanged a weird look with Minho. They had never encountered a girl quite as straight forward as Jisook before, especially since this was probably the very first formal meeting they’ve had on Heechul’s Youngstreet Radio. Since she was so close with Heechul, she didn’t seem to be intimidated at meeting two of the ridiculously handsome Shinee members at all.
“I can see why Heechul hyung likes having you here,” Key chuckled, taking out his phone and giving it to her. Minho followed suit, and Jisook beamed at them.
“That’s because I’m a huge fan of you guys,” she grinned. She punched in the numbers on Key’s phone first and called herself, then did the same with Minho’s before giving them both back. “So, are we going to be less formal with each other?”
“You want us to call you nuna?” Key teased, and all three of them laughed. Jisook was small and cute like Taeyeon, but she had her own characteristics that didn’t make her seem like a nuna. Jisook gave Key a friendly pat on the arm, shaking her head.
“No, just call me Jisook, we’re all friends,” she laughed, before she looked at Minho. “And I’ll call you Minho-goon?” She winked cheekily at him, and Minho felt himself blush, letting out a flustered laugh. Jisook took out her phone and pressed a few buttons again. “What should I save you down as? Almighty Key? Flaming Charisma Minho?”
“And we’ll save you as Tomboy Jisook, then?” Key said jokingly, also taking out his phone. “I’m going to save you down as Scary Jisook.”
Minho chuckled as Key’s playful teasing made Jisook giggle again, the atmosphere even warmer than before. He just figured it must have been because Key and Jisook were such outgoing people that of course they would be comfortable with each other already. He smiled and looked down at his own phone, saving up Jisook’s number.
JISOOKIE
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Today was Jisook’s birthday too. He hadn’t really forgotten it, in fact he hadn’t even known since she never told him, he looked it up himself on the internet. They hadn’t had the chance to grow close because of Shinee’s hectic schedule, and even with Rainbow’s comeback performances on Music Core, Minho barely had the chance to talk with his labelmates, let alone properly greet Jisook and the other Rainbow members.
But then Jisook had left promotions earlier than expected with the death of her mother.
Minho leaned on the wall and stared at the screen of his phone, pondering to himself. He felt uncomfortable to contact her at a time like this. Perhaps he shouldn’t, to let her have some space since they weren’t that close. He had mixed feelings, a self-conscious part of him still wanting to keep a distance because she was still recovering from such a rough time in her life. But at the same time, Minho knew he would probably regret this alot later on.
Tentatively, he clicked JISOOKIE and pressed the phone to his ear. He glanced at the clock on the wall as Rainbow’s Sweet Dream started to play through the phone.
11:56PM.
Click.
“Hello?” Jisook answered. “Flaming Charisma, is that you?” Minho laughed at hearing her voice; she sounded wide awake and chirpy. He could hear music and off-tune singing in the background; the Rainbow members were probably partying even harder than Shinee were right now. “Wow, you actually called me~ I didn’t think you had it in you.”
Minho chuckled again, staring down at ground as he drew a circle with his foot.
“How are you?” he asked. “Are you in Japan?”
“Yeah,” Jisook said with a sigh. “We’re preparing for our debut. Just came back from practice.”
“You’re still awake?”
“Yah, who sleeps at midnight anyway?” Jisook said incredulously with a giggle.
“Idols who practiced and got to go home early, that’s who,” Minho countered. Jisook laughed again, then heaved another sigh. He could hear her pouting through the phone.
“Is that why you called me, Flaming Charisma?” she cooed. “To tell me to go to sleep? Or was it something else?”
Minho smiled sadly, looking at the clock again. 11:57.
“I called to wish you a Happy Birthday,” he finally let out. “Happy 22nd Birthday, Tomboy Jisook.”
“Awww, you remembered,” she said sweetly. “I didn’t think I’d hear anything from you. It means alot to me. Thank you.” There was a whoosh which he was pretty sure because of her turning away from the phone to look at a clock somewhere. She let out a twinkling giggle. “You made it by 3 minutes, almost missed it.”
“I intended for it to be this close,” Minho said haughtily. “That way I can be the very last person to wish you happy birthday, so don’t forget it.” They shared a laugh, and then Minho spoke again without thinking.
“I’m sorry about your mom. I know this is a hard time for you, so I didn’t know if I should have called.”
“It’s okay,” Jisook replied softly, and Minho felt her smile sadly through the phone. “Thanks for asking me, though. I'm glad you called.” She laughed. “And don’t worry about me so much, worry about yourself too. Shinee’s really popular over here! I saw a huge poster of you guys in the subway today!”
Minho chuckled. There was a rustle on the line and he heard what sounded like Woori’s voice calling for Jisook to come.
“Well, I guess I should leave you to finish up your party,” he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck and not really knowing what else to say. “Happy birthday again.” He checked the clock. 11:59. “Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday…” Jisook laughed again.
“Chingu yah,” she called out once more just before he was about to hang up.
“Huh?” he replied. There was a short pause.
“Thanks for calling,” she said sincerely. “You don’t know how much it means to me.”
Minho smiled to himself and nodded.
“I'll see you back in Korea?”
“Of course. See you then, bye-bye.”
He waited until he heard the dial tone and only then did he turn off the phone. He sighed, staring at it for a few more seconds before he glanced at the clock again.
12:00AM. Minho smiled again.
He made it.
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