SHINee Duets 2011: peigurrl & meridianslair (Part I)
Title: Is this the reality you wanted?
Authors: peigurrrl & meridianslair (Team Name - Purple Unicorns)
Pairing: Jonghyun/Taemin, Jonghyun/Kibum, Taemin/Kibum
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 14,684
==
The first thing Kibum heard as he woke up at ten in the morning on his day off was the “beautiful” ringing sound of their dorm’s door being slammed open. Two all too familiar arguing voices filled the dorm soon afterwards. Jonghyun and Taemin were at it again. Of course, what else was new?
Kibum groaned and tried to block out their voices with his pillow.
“...And you know what else, Jonghyun? No one thinks your derp is cute, okay? I’m cute, me, Lee Taemin. You and your stupid dinosaur face can just go and jump off a cliff or something.”
“Don’t act so immature, Taemin. We all know the only reason you’re cute is because you’re young. If you were just a little older, you’d look like a girl. You’re the reason we can’t do mature concepts, ya know. Maybe you should grow up, you’re the one who’s holding this group down!”
“Fuck you!”
“No thanks, I’m not interested in going to jail.”
There was then a sound that was reminded Kibum of a shoe or something similar connecting with someone’s face. After that, a sound of that shoe being thrown back, hitting a wall, and then a body tackling another and...
“Guys, break it up! Don’t- hit- him- Jonghyun!”
“He was asking for it!”
“Yeah, manager, I was asking for it. C’mon, show me what a big man you are, beating up a defenseless minor. Hit me, Jonghyun, I dare you!”
“Where do you want me to punch you next, huh? Maybe I should punch your precious ‘jewels’, I’m sure you haven’t even grown much down there.”
Griping about whatever stroke of luck had landed him with these two, Kibum slowly shifted out of bed. He opened the door and walked towards the front room, where the door was. “Will you guys just shut the fuck up?” Kibum said angrily. “People are trying to get some beauty sleep.”
“Kibum! Jonghyun was bullying me!” Taemin cried out upon seeing him, launching his thin body at the older man with a sob.
“Wha- you little bitch! You started it!” Jonghyun replied indignantly. Seeing the bruise forming on Taemin’s arm, Kibum felt more inclined to agree with the maknae, just this once.
“Look, guys, how many times are you going to fight? Both of you have created some huge wall of hate, and I swear every day that wall gets six feet taller! You know I love you both, but... unless you fix whatever problems you both have with each other, I don’t even want to talk to you two.” Kibum ran a hand through his hair in a distressed manner. “Geez, where’s Jinki when you need him?” he mumbled, turning away from the two as he headed to the bathroom.
He tried to not hit his head against a wall, repeatedly, when he heard the two exchanging insults once again.
--
The rest of the day passed in relative peace, as Taemin left for dance practice to work on a solo for some show or the other and Jonghyun locked himself up, working on lyrics. True to his words, Kibum didn’t speak to Jonghyun when lunchtime came, and did nothing more than knock on the older boy’s door to let him know about the food.
Jonghyun walked out of the room completely absorbed in the notebook in front of him. He made it to the kitchen only bumping the wall a few times before sitting at the oval table, placing the notebook down and looking up at Kibum. “I can’t think of what to write next, can you help me, Kibum?” Jonghyun asked with his puppy face.
Completely ignoring Jonghyun’s ask for help, Kibum slapped a bowl of macaroni and cheese in front of the boy. Kibum went back to the stove and got his own bowl, setting it down gently before sitting across from Jonghyun. Forking the pasta angrily, Kibum didn’t even bother looking at his hyung.
“Kibum? Hello? Are you there?” Jonghyun waved his hands in front of Kibum. When the other still didn’t respond, he covered Kibum’s bowl with his hand.
Kibum glanced up and shot daggers at Jonghyun, slapping the hand away he continued to ignore him. “Come on, just help me a little bit!” Jonghyun begged.
Kibum gave an obvious eye roll before continuing to eat. He could tell Jonghyun was just staring at him, so when he finished his own bowl of macaroni he snatched Jonghyun’s. “Hey I was going to eat that!” Jonghyun protested.
Shrugging, Kibum finished off Jonghyun’s bowl as well. “Are you not talking to me because of earlier? You know that’s just something we do. It doesn’t really mean anything.”
The silence continued as Kibum put the dishes in the sink. He was washing them out when Jonghyun pleaded a little more. “If you talk to me I’ll take you on an unlimited shopping spree?”
Putting the bowls in the dish washer, Kibum walked out of the room. The fact that Kibum refused to even give into his offer of a shopping spree drove it home for Jonghyun. Kim Kibum was serious.
--
SHINee’s manager walked into the living room where Jonghyun sat with his notebook, still composing lyrics. “Go get Kibum out of the shower. We’re going to go pick up Jinki, Minho, and Taemin and go out to dinner. Be in the van in ten minutes,” he instructed before strolling out the door.
Jonghyun put his notebook down with a sigh before making his way to the bathroom door. “Kibum!” he said, trying to make his voice carry over the sound of the shower running. “Manager hyung wants us to to be down in the van in a few minutes to pick up the other members and eat, so hurry up!”
Not waiting for a reply, he returned to his spot in the living room. Staring down at his half empty page, Jonghyun tapped on the notebook, thinking. Footsteps were heard coming down the hallway before he looked up to see Kibum there. His hair was completely soaked, beads traveling down his neck before they traveled down his shirt. Gulping at the sight, Jonghyun jumped up and went to the door to put on his shoes.
Kibum did the same before they both walked out the door, rushing down the stairs. By the time they got to the front of the building their van was outside, Jonghyun hopped into the back while Kibum took the front seat next to their manager. No one spoke as they drove to the dance studio, there was only the sound of the radio playing and the cars around them.
Stopping at one of the tall buildings, Taemin jumped in the van. Seeing Jonghyun in the backseat, he stuck out his tongue and sat in one of the middle seats. Kicking the back of Taemin’s seat got a stern look from their manager as he turned around in his seat and told them to knock it off. They both said sorry before he turned back around, driving to their next destination.
Soon enough, a tired Jinki and Minho made their way into the van as well. Minho sat next to Jonghyun and Jinki sat in the seat beside Taemin. When Minho saw they weren’t heading in the direction to their dorm he asked, “Where are we going?”
“We’re going out to dinner,” Jonghyun replied quietly. Minho silently nodded.
Once they arrived at their favorite restaurant, the members filed out of the car. They sat themselves at one of the tables, a waitress giving them menus. Ordering what they wanted the waitress left, giving them their privacy.
“The reason I brought you guys here was to discuss a few things,” their manager started. “You guys have been doing a great job lately and your comeback preparations are starting soon, but I think we all know there are a few problems right now.”
All five of them knew who he was talking about, Jonghyun and Taemin. “I’ve come up with a solution, but I both know you won’t like it. I was thinking that maybe if you both room together, you will eventually get along. So... starting tonight we will move both of your stuff into the extra room I use for storage so you both can sleep together. The two of you will have to spend at least an hour in the room together, awake,” their manger explained.
The occupants of the table burst into uproarious laughter but for two of them. Taemin’s jaw dropped. “Y-you want me, to stay in a room with him?”
“I honestly think it’ll be good for the both of you,” Jinki spoke up.
“You have gotta be shitting me,” Jonghyun said, banging his head on the table. “This is not the reality I wanted.”
“Can we make their room soundproof too?” Minho questioned, laughing.
When their food was brought out the waitress stayed for a moment after she set down the plates. “C-can I have your autographs?” she asked sweetly. The five members looked at their manager, silently waiting for permission. He gave a quick nod before Jinki said, “Sure.” She gave them one of the sheets she uses to take order, handing her pen as well. Once all five signed, the waitress bowed and scurried off to her other customers.
“Are you happy now, Kibum?” Jonghyun asked spitefully. Kibum didn’t reply, but he did smile. He was very pleased with the manager’s decisions.
--
They left the restaurant early in order to begin the process of fixing band dynamics, much to Jonghyun and Taemin’s eternal displeasure. Jinki and Minho didn’t help with the moving- they had woken up early and had to get what sleep they could for tomorrow’s schedule. So they were saved quite a bit of yelling and screaming when it was discovered only one bed could fit into the storage room. It was, after all, quite a tiny room, to the point where Taemin and Jonghyun had to charge their laptops in the hallway- there weren’t enough wall sockets for their computers, the floor lamp, and space heater.
“What do you mean we can’t put two beds in here?!” shrieked Taemin.
“What do you mean, I have to share a bed with him!?” roared Jonghyun.
“What do you two think I mean?!” the manager bellowed at last, red in the face. “It means you two idiots are just going to have to sleep in the same bed! And you’ll like it or I’ll know why.” He threw the spare air mattress down and plugged in the electric air pump about as furiously as one could. “Kibum, go get the spare sheets and blankets from the linen closet. As for you two. Go wash right now because the minute you’re done, I’m duct taping you in.”
Kibum had never wished so much to have a camera on hand, just to capture those priceless expressions. They were the stuff perfect Christmas cards were made of, truly.
--
“Jonghyun.”
“Mrpphblt?”
“Turn the other direction.”
“Wae?”
“You’re breathing on my neck. It’s disgusting.”
There was a resulting thump as Taemin was shoved off the bed by the considerably stronger male. He spluttered for a minute before throwing himself back on the bed, taking a pillow in hand to smother Jonghyun with and finally giving in to his desires to cause permanent damage to the older boy.
“I will end you, Kim Jonghyun!” the maknae hissed, as he straddled Jonghyun and pressed the pillow to the singer’s face with every intention of killing his hyung. It was unfortunate that Taemin didn’t tend to plan ahead, because Jonghyun’s arms were left free to grab the psychotic teenager and pull him off.
“Are you insane?” Jonghyun gasped as he pinned the smaller body down, not particularly interested in a repeat attempt on his life. “I could have fucking died, you little psycho!”
“That was kind of the point,” Taemin deadpanned back.
Jonghyun kneed him in the gut. “Look, idiot. Like it or not, we’re stuck in here with each other for the next four hours at least. I am not going on stage tomorrow without any sleep after having to deal with an entire night of your murder attempts. Besides, didn’t you think of the repercussions if you actually killed me?” If anything, Jonghyun was more reasonable when tired but Taemin only became more rash when he was tired and truly had no qualms against smothering his bandmate to death when he was like this. Jonghyun came to this realization about half a minute after glaring at the angel faced teenager and had only one solution.
“What the fuck?!!” Taemin shouted angrily as Jonghyun suddenly displayed an enormous propensity for kidnapping, just in case being an idol didn’t work out for him. How did Taemin come to this conclusion? Probably by the fact that he had been wrapped up to resemble a cocoon within the blankets and then tied securely in such a manner that Taemin had little to zero chance of escaping without a scissors-wielding manager as even Jonghyun seemed a little puzzled as to how he had tied the knot when he finished.
“Now, now,” tutted Jonghyun, “Don’t yell too loudly, wouldn’t want to wake people up.” Snickering, the older boy rolled Taemin off the bed and onto the floor, throwing a pillow down to follow. “Sleep tight, maknae.”
If looks could kill, the chances that Jonghyun would have died a bloody, painful end, that night were through the roof. Unfortunately, Taemin really didn’t posses such a power and was reduced to merely glaring as angrily as he could at the broad back and shoulders as he wriggled and maneuvered his head onto the pillow he had been provided.
“Dead,” seethed the littlest Lee. “Kim Jonghyun, catch pneumonia and die.”
--
The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the manager was awake and cheerfully ripping away the duct tape over Jonghyun and Taemin’s new room, satisfied that no one was dead when he didn’t see a puddle of blood leaking out from under the door.
“Morning, guys-” He stopped dead at the sight greeting him. That sight, for the record, was a very happy dinosaur sleeping on a bed mostly stripped of sheets and a little Taemin-cocoon sleeping angrily on the floor. The scream of horror was heard throughout the dorm as the manager ordered Jinki- no, Minho because he couldn’t trust Jinki to run with scissors- to get scissors or something, because those knots did not look like they were going to be untied anytime soon.
Taemin blearily opened his eyes when the manager rolled him around to find the best place to cut the bindings off and immediately turned on sad, pitiful maknae mode.
“Manager! You see what he does to me? You can’t let him be in the same room as me, you can’t! What if he tries to kill me next?”
From the bed, Jonghyun snorted sleepily, replying with a, “Thasrich comin’ from you, crazy psycho devil brat.”
Jinki peered into the room, toothbrush in his mouth and looked vaguely impressed at the sight before running off to gossip with the other two about Jonghyun’s astounding kidnapping abilities. The manager on the other hand, was on the verge of tears at the way the snippy exchange between the singer and dancer took place as if he wasn’t even in the room and worse- Taemin would not stop wriggling.
Needless to say, words were had that morning.
--
“You know your voice cracked, right hyung?” Taemin smiled happily. They were on stage at one of those small concerts held in Seoul, in front of a few hundred fans. They were being interviewed, but Taemin decided to pick on Jonghyun a bit.
Jonghyun smiled back. “You do know you missed several steps, right Taemin?” Several fangirls near their side of the stage screamed, thinking it was just fanservice.
“Dance moves are less notable than a dinosaur screeching into a microphone,” Taemin threw back.
“Aww, aren’t you just a cute little maknae?” Jonghyun said while pinching Taemin’s cheeks. Taemin’s smile grew bigger as he took his hyung’s hand and petted it.
“Aww, aren’t you just a cute little idiot?” Their smiles must have been pretty convincing to the audience because the fans continued to scream. Dropping both of their hands they turned to see their band mates and the interviewer staring at them.
“He had something on his face,” Jonghyun said awkwardly into his microphone.
“Sure he did...” the interviewer said, rolling his eyes at the two. The members looked at them, fake smiles and laughs evident to Jonghyun and Taemin. They knew they were arguing in public again. They both looked at each other, and the fact that it distressed their bandmates made them feel a little guilty.
Once the interview was over they all got into the van, onto their next destination. Jinki was rubbing his face angrily. “You’ve both already spent one night together, and nothing has changed at all! Can’t you two just act like you’re getting along?”
Minho sighed, shifting in his seat. “Hyung, I know you’re stressed but getting mad at them isn’t going to help. These things take time...”
“You’re right, Minho.” Jinki nodded, and looked back and forth between the two who were forced into the back seat together. “Look, I’m sorry for getting a bit mad, but... you two just drive me insane. When you two fight I feel like I’ve failed this group as a leader, please understand that.”
Taemin sat there for a moment, thinking about what Jinki said. He looked over at Jonghyun who also looked like he was thinking about something. He looked back at Jinki, feeling pressured to say something and replied with a small, “I’m sorry, hyung.”
Out of the corner of his eye Taemin could see Jonghyun rolling his eyes, mumbling something along the lines of “Suck up.” Taemin sighed, elbowing Jonghyun.
Glaring at the younger, Jonghyun said, “Sorry, hyung.”
Jinki turned around, somewhat satisfied. The rest of the ride was filled with Jonghyun and Taemin having a silent kicking match in the back while the other three members chatted happily.
--
Taemin was sprawled out on the floor, his homework in front of him. He couldn’t seem to concentrate though, Jonghyun’s humming too irritating. “Could you please stop humming? I’m trying to work here.”
“Whatever.” Jonghyun didn’t even bother listening to younger. The older knocked his head back against the wall repeatedly, irking Taemin further.
“I just asked you to stop humming, and you bang your head on the wall? Are you serious? I can barely fucking concentrate! Can you please just quit?”
“Then why don’t you go in the living room or something, princess.” Jonghyun suggested arrogantly. He didn’t even bother looking at Taemin, too focused on the notebook in front of him.
“Look, I asked nicely the first time. I don’t understand why you’re being such a dick.” Taemin gathered his stuff in his arms and walked out the door, not bothering to wait for a reply.
Giving a quick shrug, Jonghyun went back to work thinking and humming to himself. He could hear people talking down the hall, but it didn’t really bother him. That is, until Taemin was being shoved back into the room by Minho. The door was slammed shut and what sounded like a large heavy object being pushed in front of the door.
Taemin tossed everything on the floor and sat down next to the pile. “Uhh, so, what happened?” Jonghyun asked.
“They told me I have to stay in here and do my homework, even if I can’t concentrate,” Taemin muttered, pouting and crossing his arms angrily.
“Oh,” Jonghyun replied blankly. There was a long period of silence before Taemin got up and sat down next to Jonghyun on the blowup bed. You would’ve thought Jonghyun was looking at an alien with the face he was giving Taemin.
“I think we should pretend to get along in front of the other members. It’ll make this process go faster, and we won’t be forced together as long,” Taemin said with a serious tone in his voice. He turned to look at his hyung, waiting for his opinion.
Jonghyun’s brows furrowed as he took a moment to seriously consider the proposal. There was a part of him- male pride or what have you- that didn’t want to comply with the plan simply because it came from the mind of a demon maknae he loathed, but the more logical part of him prodded him to give in, and quickly, because a mere thirty-two hours spent in uncomfortably close proximity to the boy already had his stomach churning with violent intent. Besides which- he didn’t particularly enjoy Kibum’s continued silent treatment.
Thinking of Kibum, Jonghyun sighed. It wasn’t something he was looking forward to, but he made his decision anyways. “I guess we can try it...”
“Good, we start our ‘act’ tomorrow.” Taemin’s face was expressionless as he walked back over to his homework. In the back of their minds, they knew this was a terrible idea. The other members would catch on eventually, right?
The sound of Jinki yelling for a fire extinguisher as Minho roared in pain and Kibum calling for their manager to set up an appointment with the hair stylists dismissed the notion. No, they wouldn’t. Definitely not.
--
The sounds of people talking and laughing brought Taemin to full wakefulness. Looking around, Taemin was confused to why he wasn’t on the bed. His head had been resting on his science book, but a blanket was draped over him. “Jonghyun wouldn’t do that, would he?” Taemin asked himself.
Sitting up, Taemin could feel the ache in his back from sleeping on the floor overnight. He stretched his back before standing up, massaging the back of his neck. The bed they were supposed to share was empty, indicating that Jonghyun was up as well.
When Taemin opened the door he walked out to the kitchen, all of the members sitting eating breakfast. No one noticed he was even walking into the room until Jonghyun’s face lit up. “There’s my favorite maknae!” Jonghyun yelled happily, skipping over to Taemin.
At first Taemin was shocked, what had made Jonghyun do such a thing? It took a moment for him to realize Jonghyun was just going along with his plan. Jonghyun began tickling his side, teasing the younger boy. “Stop it, hyung! You’re being weird,” Taemin giggled.
Everyone seemed to stop in their tracks, staring at the two. Minho dropped his eggs, Jinki choked on his rice, Kibum dropped the carton of milk, and their manager held his coffee cup in midair about to take a sip. Taemin’s laugh died down before he looked at everyone. “What?” the innocent maknae asked. Taemin knew they were shocked from the sudden closeness, but he had to act like he didn’t know why they were staring.
“Well, I just kinda thought you two didn’t like each other?” Jinki coughed, the rice stuck in his throat.
“You see, Jinki, Taemin and I had a heart to heart talk last night. We discussed some of our issues and solved them properly, like civilized people,” Jonghyun expressed in an emotion filled tone.
The room stilled even more at Jonghyun’s words, until Kibum laughed that is. “Oh god, what have we done to them? We locked them up and now they’ve both gone insane!” Kibum picked up the milk carton he had dropped and set it on the table with a box of cereal, blatantly ignoring what he considered the ravings of madmen.
Taemin and Jonghyun both frowned. “We really did talk it out though!” Taemin whined.
“As long as there isn’t anymore yelling.” Minho started eating his eggs again, shrugging at the two. Their manager shook his head, sipping his coffee. Everyone returned to their affairs, refusing to believe that the two could become so friendly so fast. Well, Jonhyun had to give them credit for not being as stupid as he and Taemin had hoped.
Taemin made himself a bowl of cereal before frowning sadly at the rest of the kitchen’s occupants and sulking back to the storage room, Jonghyun in tow. He sat on the floor, cheerlessly stuffing his mouth with cheerios while Jonghyun sat on the bed in a thinking position. “Well that didn’t work,” Jonghyun said, rubbing his forehead.
Swallowing his mouthful of food, Taemin replied, “No, you think so? It’s barely been ten minutes of this, we’re going to have to keep it up for a while, duh.”
Jonghyun flopped backwards on the bed, arms spread out. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” What was he thinking anyways? They’d all believe them today, and they’d go back to their respective rooms tomorrow? Jonghyun stared at the ceiling, wishing they hadn’t been put into this situation. They ought to just be allowed to hate each other and let that be the end of it.
--
Taemin took a peek at Jonghyun from behind his laptop. Jonghyun had been writing something for weeks, but no one knew what. Every time someone asked what he was doing, he’d shield the notebook and refuse to show them. Taemin was going to ambush him and see what was so secretive about it. His hyung was sitting on the floor, his back leaning against the wall and his notebook propped up on Jonghyun’s knees.
Pushing away his laptop, Taemin jumped off the bed and snatched the notebook. Jonghyun tried to snatch it back, but failed. “Hey!” the older yelled. “You can’t read that!”
“Juliette?” Taemin read out loud. Before he could read anything else, the notebook was ripped out of his hand.
“Please don’t read this. It’s... personal.” Taemin had to admit, he’d never seen that kind of look in his hyung’s eyes. He looked heartbroken, almost like a puppy told not to do something by his owner.
“But they’re just lyrics, right? Why can’t we read them?” the younger asked. Now he was even more curious, why would he have to hide lyrics?
“I just can’t seem to get the lyrics right and I don’t want someone to read the crappy lyrics I wrote. I really want to finish it, but I lost my inspiration so it’s kind of hard.” Jonghyun let out a long sigh, tossing the notebook on the floor. “Maybe I should quit writing for a while.”
“I’m sure the lyrics are fine, hyung.”
Jonghyun snorted. “No need to pull on the nice act, Taemin, the members aren’t even paying attention to us.”
“I’m being serious. Your song is about Juliette, right? Just go watch Romeo and Juliette or something, I have the movie in one of my cases.” Taemin really was being serious, but Jonghyun was still a bit wary.
“Okay, but you have to watch it with me. I’m sure the other members will bug me if we aren’t together,” Jonghyun sighed.
“Fine,” Taemin replied before they both walked out to the living room together. Jonghyun sat on the couch while Taemin dug in the cabinet under the TV, searching for his DVD case. Finding his case, he pulled out the DVD and inserted it into the player.
“It has subtitles right?” Jonghyun asked.
“Duh, how else would I be able to understand the movie?” Taemin replied, sitting down on the couch as far as he could from Jonghyun.
Halfway through the movie the two were so into it they didn’t realize Minho had walked in. “Uh... why are you two watching Romeo and Juliette?” Minho asked, thoroughly confused.
“Because Jonghyun is in love with Olivia Hussey!” Taemin yelled without thinking. Jonghyun turned to Taemin and gave him a look that screamed ‘What the fuck?’
“Oh. I didn’t know you liked white girls, Jonghyun. I guess you two are really getting along,” Minho said.
“Heh, yeah,” Jonghyun replied, not really knowing what to say.
“Mind if I join you guys?” Minho asked. He stood there awkwardly waiting for an answer.
“Sure!” Taemin patted the spot in between him and Jonghyun, “You can sit right here. It’s halfway over though, hope you don’t mind.”
Minho sat down between them, instantly absorbed in the subtitles. Once the movie was over, Minho returned to his room leaving Jonghyun and Taemin alone on the couch. Jonghyun reached over and slapped Taemin’s arm as hard as he could.
“What the heck!?” Taemin squeaked, rubbing the tender area.
“What was that thing earlier ‘Oh Jonghyun likes Olivia Hussey’, huh?” Jonghyun asked.
“I don’t know! He surprised me and it just kinda slipped, I didn’t want him to think I was the one who wanted to watch it.”
“Whatever, just don’t touch my stuff again.” Jonghyun walked back to their room, leaving the maknae alone on the couch.
“Bitch,” Taemin huffed, “Could’ve at least said thanks.”
--
The next few days passed awkwardly, but peaceably, for the most part. Jonghyun and Taemin kept their act up in front of the cameras, their manager, their bandmates... But when the doors were closed and the room was soundproofed- via very ingenious use of egg cartons and laundry- the two warred for everything they were worth, vicious glares, obscenities, flying belongings and all.
The important thing was that the members were convinced, though. Feuds over missing socks and switched keyboard keys were entirely irrelevant. And perhaps it was little things like that that didn’t convince the other members how fabulously Jonghyun and Taemin were getting on.
Neither were yet convinced the other three were actually that observant though. Which was probably why it took until photos of Taemin allegedly being bullied at school began circulating around the internet and the consequential events for them to be convinced.
As it were, one day, Taemin came home from school. He found Kibum, Jinki, Minho, and the manager assembled, waiting for him, no Jonghyun present which he couldn’t help but smile internally at. No need to act, then.
Dropping his backpack at the doorway as he kicked his shoes off, Taemin walked towards the four, head cocked in question. “I’m back. What’s up?”
“Taemin, are you being bullied at school?” That was Minho, no delicacy at all. He stared down seriously at the teenager, wide dark eyes boring into the younger boy’s, as if he could set things on fire with his eyes alone. His eyes and charisma, that is.
Taemin blinked at them, as he was wont to do when confused. Where had they gotten the idea he was being bullied at school? Nobody was so stupid as to mess with one of SM Entertainment’s idols, unless they wanted to be sued into oblivion. “I’m not being bullied.”
Kibum glared at him, Jinki seemed to accept his words and relaxed a little, Minho was stony-faced as usual and the manager led him to sit at the short coffee table in the living room, as if he were all of five years old.
“Taemin,” began the manager. “I know that it’s probably hard to admit you’re being bullied but understand, we can help you. You don’t have to lie to us to save face, you know.” Well, it was a little more tactful than Minho, but not much more tactful.
“But I’m really not being bullied,” Taemin insisted with a pout. “Why would you guys even think that?”
Now came Jinki’s turn to speak, as he spread a few print outs on the table, seating himself beside the manager to face Taemin. “Kibum saw these on the internet the other day, in one of the fan cafes. The person who posted them said you were harassed at school and... well.”
Casting a critical eye over the grainy, low resolution images, Taemin reached out to pick one of the pictures up, recognizing his friend and himself in one of the pictures. He knew people took pictures of him at school, which was his head had been down- the public’s image of him would be destroyed without makeup and photoshop fixing up all the little flaws. There were people crowding around him of course, but that wasn’t because it was him. The morning bell rush simply left the hallways that packed. He said as much to them.
They didn’t believe him. Innocent, gentle, pretty child that he was, of course he was being bullied. Everyone was jealous so they had to be taking their envy out on him. If it weren’t for the fact that the table was made of oak, Taemin would have slammed his head against it until he passed out. But it was made of oak and a very pretty oak it was, that Kibum shined obsessively. Taemin would hate to give the man a conniption fit trying to scrub blood stains out.
“I swear on Emma Watson’s face that I’m not being bullied, okay?! You’re not going to get a better promise out of me, seriously!”
“First Jonghyun with Olivia Hussey and now our maknae with Emma Watson, what is the world coming to?” Minho muttered darkly.
Taemin shot him an offended look. “What do you have against international women?”
“Well, it’s no surprise they’re looking elsewhere, we’re surrounded by Asian girls all the time, it does get a little boring,” Jinki inserted.
“Would you idiots stay on topic?” Kibum rapped out angrily. “Manager, make him tell us who’s bullying him so we can go kick their asses.”
“Why don’t you, Kibum? He’s always liked you best of us all. Hey, maybe you’re the one bullying him by not speaking to him?”
“It’s not bullying, it’s punishment. Jonghyun’s getting the same treatment, okay? The difference is that Taeminnie is being bullied in school whereas Jjong’s a Korean gangster in reality and I’m not worried about him.”
“All the more reason for you to talk to him so he doesn’t get depressed while he’s going through this-”
“I’M NOT BEING BULLIED.” Taemin roared grabbing his hair in frustration and deciding Kibum could scrub blood stains for the rest of his life. He adored his hyungs, he really did, but they were not listening to him and it quite frankly made him want to jump out a window.
Then the door opened and in walked Jonghyun, head bobbing to the music playing from his headphones, a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. Taemin slumped; one more person to try and convince him he was being bullied. Fantastic.
“I’m back!”
“Jonghyun, come here!” ordered the manager in that tone of voice that brooked no arguments. Pulling out one of the earbuds, the singer did as he was told, entering the living room with curiosity etched into his face at the scene: four grown men, encircling one skinny little boy who looked like he wanted nothing more than to spill his brains all across the shiny oak table. It was a look of pure desperation that was sent his way.
“Hyung, tell them I’m not being bullied. TELL THEM WHAT I TOLD YOU THREE DAYS AGO, YOU REMEMBER WHAT I SAID, RIGHT? TELL THEM, JONGHYUN-HYUNG, TELL THEM!” Taemin didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care that he hated Kim Jonghyun, didn’t care that he was acting like he was half crazy, didn’t care that he was begging the dinoderp for help, all he cared about at this point was for them to accept that he wasn’t being bullied and leave him alone.
The hysteria of his littlest bandmate was a little unnerving, so Jonghyun looked at the pictures on the table, the serious, worried faces of everyone else, remembered the forum thread he had read about Taemin being bullied at school (that’s right, he had been the first one to find that and why hadn’t Taemin been confronted earlier? probably because he really truly didn’t like the maknae enough to care) and put two and two together like only he could do.
“Oh yeah, Taemin’s not being bullied. He complained about people taking his picture once in a while but he’s got friends that help him out,” Jonghyun said, face guileless.
“How would you know?” prompted Minho.
“We’re close like that. We told you, we had a serious heart-to-heart the other night. Me and him, we’re pretty much best friends now.”
With that, Taemin got up as speedily as he could- which was pretty speedy when he wanted to be- and slung an arm around Jonghyun. “So there, I’m not being bullied and you guys are annoying. I’m now going to willingly seclude myself in a tiny room with my new best friend, okay? Okay!” And away they flew, into their little room, shutting and locking the door and quickly scrambling to soundproof the room.
“You owe me one,” was the first thing out of Jonghyun’s mouth, upon ‘securing the perimeters’.
Taemin glared, “I owe you nothing. This’ll benefit both of us in the long run.”
The older teen shrugged, “Well, okay, I’ll just let them know you really are being bullied but I didn’t want to tell them with you right there because I’m such a good, concerned friend.”
“Don’t you dare.”
“Admit you owe me one or I will walk out right this minute and tell them exactly that.”
Taemin lunged. Jonghyun dodged as the skinny body soared by to land with a soft ‘fwump’ on the bed. He’d say this for the kid: being a bird could definitely be a career option. “That was some distance.” He whistled, getting ready to dodge again.
Contrary to his expectations, Taemin didn’t get up. Thrown off by the fact he wasn’t attacked again as was usual, Jonghyun frowned. Then he understood- it was a ploy to get him to walk closer so that the boy could actually land a hit. Well, he wasn’t falling for it.
Two minutes later, Taemin still hadn’t gotten up. Or responded at all. Well shit, maybe he’d broken his neck and that was why? And Jonghyun would have been the last person to see him alive- shitshithshit, he was NOT going to jail for murder or manslaughter or whatever the hell it was called.
“Oh my God, Lee Taemin, you had better not be dead,” he whispered in horror. Running the two steps to the bed, he fell to his knees at the edge of the bed, patting the maknae down for a pulse, not that he knew where he would find one. His hands were smacked away and furious eyes were turned on him.
“I hate you. I hate you so much, Jonghyun.”
The words were nothing new but it was the tone- the sound of someone on the verge of tears- that shocked the singer into asking hesitantly, “You... you’re not actually being bullied at school, are you?”
The maknae turned his face back into the sheets before screaming out a long string of profanities, finishing with, “No, I’m not being bullied. I’m tired. Go away. I hate you all.”
Jonghyun chewed on his bottom lip, contemplating the younger boy’s mood for a moment before patting him roughly on the head, “I believe you.”
It was a muffled, “I owe you one, hyung.” and it was said softly, mumbled reluctantly, but Jonghyun heard it and Taemin knew he heard it, if the cheerful whistling sending Taemin off to dreamland was any indication.
--
When Kibum walked into the room, Jonghyun was laying on the bed with his laptop on his stomach. He didn’t see Taemin though. Jonghyun looked up at him for a moment. “Yes?” he said, asking what he was in their room for.
“Where’s Taemin?” Key asked.
Jonghyun typed something down. “Bathroom,” he grunted.
“Oh,” Kibum sat down on the corner of the air mattress, Jonghyun’s side rising up slightly. “Mind if I wait here then?”
“You’re already sitting down, how can I refuse you?” Jonghyun laughed, closing his laptop. Realization hit him after a few moments. “Wait! You’re talking to me! Does that mean you forgive us?” He got closer to Kibum, Jonghyun’s puppy face mode on.
“I’ll tell you when Taemin gets back...”
“Fine,” Jonghyun sighed. Waiting for Taemin to come back Kibum stared at the wall, out of the corner of his eye he could see Jonghyun staring at him. The awkwardness hung in the air like a deadly poison.
Taemin walked through the door, hair dripping wet. “Jonghyun, have you seen my- Kibum? What are you doing here?”
Kibum smiled. “I’m just here to talk for a moment.”
“Oookay...?” Taemin looked over at Jonghyun to see if he knew what was going on. Jonghyun shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, a clear signal that he didn’t know anything.
“You two seem to be getting along a lot lately. Y’know at first I just thought it was a joke, but I’ve changed my mind since then. I miss talking to you two, you’re both my good friends in the group. I guess you two have learned your lesson...” Kibum trailed off.
Taemin smiled and gave Kibum a hug. “I missed you, hyung!” He looked over Key’s shoulder and saw Jonghyun glaring at him. Pulling away Taemin asked, “Will we be able to move out of this storage room though?”
“I’m pretty sure you guys will still be here for a while. Just because I forgave you guys, doesn’t mean everything’s still okay. You guys have to see about how the manager feels about this.”
Jonghyun let out a long sigh. “I just want a comfortable bed, this one sucks ass,” he said staring straight at Taemin.
“Haha, yeah. I agree with Jonghyun, it really is uncomfortable.” Taemin’s smile didn’t waver as he kept getting dirty looks from his roommate.
“Well, I can’t help you there, sorry. But I should probably go now... it was nice talking to you two again,” Kibum said before looking at both of them, oblivious to everything, and walked out.
“What were those looks for, Jonghyun?” Taemin asked. He crossed his arms, leaning backwards against one of the walls.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonghyun said, rolling his eyes.
“But you do... when I was being nice to Kibum, you were giving me dirty looks.”
“I don’t like you hanging all over Kibum is all, okay? Stop prying into my business,” Jonghyun growled. Pulling his laptop back onto his lap, he opened it and started typing away.
Taemin thought about it for a moment, possibilities dawning upon him. “Oh, oh,” he gasped. “Kibum... is Juliette.”
Jonghyun stilled for a moment before turning to look at Taemin. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“But I do, Jonghyun, and you aren’t the only one who feels that way about him.” The warmth in the maknae’s voice had completely disappeared. It was now cold and rough, Jonghyun becoming angered by it.
“We’ll see about that one, maknae,” Jonghyun challenged.
“Oh, we will. Just you wait, Kim Jonghyun.” Taemin eyes were like daggers as he stomped out of the room. Within a few moments their hate had grown tenfolds. The dorm was about to become a battle zone, and only Taemin and Jonghyun knew about it.
Part II