Responsibility

Description: Manager hyung has family matter and Jinki has to go for Night Star's recording, but Jonghyun hates the idea of being the eldest at home.

Rating: PG (maybe, for swearing)

Characters: SHINee

Disclaimer: I do not own SHINee.  The story is purely a narrative and does not involve any real life situation.  The whole plot of the story is written originally by myself.  If there's any similarity to other fictions, it is totally a coincidence.

“No, hyung.  You can’t just leave me here, taking care of the other three.  It’s ridiculous.  You know I can’t-”

                “No, Jonghyun.  You can.  Okay.  Just make sure they are at the dorm before twelve and have eaten.  Key has his musical practice tomorrow, and Taemin will have to get ready for Immortal Song and Minho will have another photo shoot.  All of them have to get ready by morning so your job is to make sure they sleep early.  Okay, Jonghyun-ah?” Jinki asks him.  The look the younger gives him is very desperate, for him not to leave, but he has no choice.

                “But, hyung-”

                “No but Jonghyun,” he says sternly before the younger boy could protest, but seeing the glint of tears in the other’s eyes makes him lowers down his voice, “Jonghyun-ah, you know manager hyung is having a call from his family for an important matter and I have a show to handle.  Kibum, Minho and Taemin need someone older to keep an eye on them.  I have nobody to rely on except you, Jonghyun.  Please,” he almost begs.  Jonghyun sighs, as though the whole universe is put on his shoulders.

                “Can you just call in sick?” Jonghyun asks.

                “No, Jonghyun.  No,” he smiles at the shorter boy.  Jonghyun pouts.

                “Why not?” he asks again.

                “It is what people call responsibility, Jonghyun-ah,” he pats the other’s head before he leave for Night Star’s recording.

                Jonghyun hates the feeling of being at home, with three other members.  He doesn’t hate them, not at all, but he hates being the eldest at home.  He is just not used to it.  All this while, he has Jinki taking care of the other members, and him.  When Jinki is not at the dorm, he still has manager hyung with him.  He doesn’t need to worry about how to buy dinner, how to get the members stay at the dorm and even how to get the members to sleep.  He thinks he has become too dependent on them.  He sighs for the umpteenth time that day.

                Thinking that it might be better for him to get into action rather than just staring at his pet dog, Roo who can’t help him in this situation, he first thinks of how to get the dinner ready.  What would Jinki do in this situation?  He should cook, should he not?  But, thinking of the face Kibum might give and the never-ending criticisms of a bad-taste-dinner from Minho, he decides that he should just get packed meals from the nearby restaurant.  And so he goes out, in the cold air of the evening, clearly in disguise, because the last thing he wants to happen in this situation is to be kidnapped by fans.

                When he gets home, he sets the table ready for late dinner.  He smiles at his attempt to get the members to eat.  Maybe it is not that bad after all.  But, the smiles on his face turns into an unattractive thin line as his lips pressed together at the news he just heard from Taemin.

                “Kibum hyung went out while you were buying dinner,” that is enough to make Jonghyun’s heart jumps.  What if Kibum is kidnapped by fans?  What if Kibum can’t find way home?  What if…What if…

                “Where did he go?” he asks.  Taemin shrugs.

                “He went out with the 91-liners.  You know, Nicole, Min, Jinwoon.  Perhaps I should go as well,” Minho says, remembering that he was born in 1991 as well.

                “No, Minho.  You’re not going anywhere.  Sit down and eat your meal,” Jonghyun says sternly.

                Minho looks at Taemin questioningly and both of them are thinking what makes the elder sounds so serious and concern.  Kibum went out, that’s normal.  Jonghyun goes out sometimes.  It is not wrong, isn’t it?

                “You’re not going to look for him, right hyung?” Taemin asks while feeding himself a spoonful of chicken rice.

                “Hell yes, I am,” he says.  Minho looks at him weirdly while he dials Kibum’s number.

                “Jjong,” Kibum answers as the line is connected.  And Jonghyun frowns at his hoarse voice.

                “Where are you, Kibum?” Jonghyun asks impatiently.

                “Noraebang.  Singing my heart out with Nicole, Jinwoon and Min,” his voice sounds so dry and hoarse in the phone.

                “What the-Kibum!  What happen to your voice?!” he asks in horror.  He could hear Kibum laughs.

                “I sang and my voice turned to be like this,” Kibum says nonchalantly.

                “Shit!  Kibum!  You have a musical practice tomorrow.  Have you eaten dinner yet?”

                “No, hyung.  Why hyung?  You sound so much like a mother.  Chill!” he replies.

                “No, Kibum.  Get home now, okay?” Jonghyun says while glancing at Taemin, “Taemin is sick.  He fainted in the bathroom and I don’t know what to do!” he tries his best to sound very worried.  He does sound worry, but not of Taemin, but of Kibum.  Taemin almost chokes on his food, but Minho is there to quickly shove him a glass of water.

                “What?!  Hyung, make sure Taemin hang in there, okay?  I’ll be at the dorm as soon as possible,” and that’s it.

                Kibum keeps his promise though.  He is in the dorm very early but takes an hour nagging at how much Jonghyun has ruined his outing with his friends and that he shouldn’t lie to him about Taemin fainted.  Jonghyun just rolls his eyes and forces Key to eat, which he does after another set of whines about how Jonghyun should just let him have dinner with Jinwoon.

                “I wish Jinki hyung were here and I don’t have to eat a heavy supper,” he complaints.  Jonghyun sighs again.

                “I wish he were here too,” he whispers to himself before he stands for himself, refuse to admit defeated, “It’s not my fault you took one hour to nag and whine.  If only you eat your meal earlier, it would be dinner.”

                Kibum snorts at that and he resumes eating.  There’s another set of complaints while he is eating but all Jonghyun does is turning his ears deaf.  He accompanies Kibum eating though, despite Kibum being all bitchy.        Jonghyun flinches at how raspy Kibum’s voice has become.  He thinks again what Jinki would do in this situation.  In the end, Jonghyun mixes honey with warm water and even squeezes a bit of lime juice into it.  He puts the mug in front of Kibum and gains another look from Kibum.

                “What?  Why?” Kibum almost could not ask.  It is unusual for Jonghyun to care about the others in the dorm.

                “That’s for your throat.  Please be okay by tomorrow.  You know you have musical practice tomorrow and I know as hell that nobody on the set wants Kibum to have a damaged throat before the practice even starts,” Jonghyun says.

                “Are you sick, hyung?  Kibum tries to touch Jonghyun’s forehead, but the elder gently pushes his hand away.

                “No, Kibum.  I am healthy and well-aware of my responsibility.  You finish that drink, take bath and go straight to bed, eh, Kibum-ah?” he says.  Kibum looks confused but nods anyway.  Jonghyun smiles and walks to the living room after that to ask the others to sleep as well.

                The other two busied themselves with games, clearly having battles against each other.  Jonghyun shakes his head at the sight of them.  He sits on the couch and clears his throat to get their attention.

                “What now, hyung?  You ask us to bath and we already did that,” Minho says while hitting the button furiously.

                “It’s time for you to sleep,” says Jonghyun.

                “What hyung?!” both of them asks synchronously.

                “I said that it is time for you guys to sleep,” Jonghyun says.

                “God, hyung!  It’s only eleven!” Minho protests.

                “I know and you have photo shoot tomorrow, Minho.  No one wants eye bags for photo shoot.  And Taemin have to get enough rest for Immortal Song tomorrow.  I know how stressful it would be standing alone on the Immortal Song’s stage.  It is good for both of you to get enough sleep,” says Jonghyun rationally.

                “No, hyung.  It’s still early!” Minho is clearly protesting again.

                “Minho!  You have to sleep early.  God knows how hard it is to wake you up early in the morning, you heavy sleeper!” Jonghyun raises his voice.  Minho rolls his eyes and quickly gets into the room they share together.

                Jonghyun is glad when Minho straight away goes to sleep right after he puts his head on the soft pillow.  He switches off the light and walks to the other room, where Jinki, Kibum and Taemin are sharing with each other.  He looks at Kibum who is already asleep on his bed.  His eyes move to Taemin.  He could see the younger boy’s eyes are still blinking at the ceiling.

                “Taemin-ah?” he asks.

                Taemin looks at Jonghyun who is standing at the doorframe.  He blinks at the older again and again.  Then, Taemin pouts at him.

                “I can’t sleep, hyung,” Taemin says.  Jonghyun smiles at him.

                “Just close your eyes, Taemin.  Everything will be fine,” he says while switching the light off.

                “Hyung, usually Jinki hyung sings for me to sleep,” Taemin says.  Jonghyun’s eyes almost drop out of the sockets.

                “And when he has a late schedule, did manager hyung sing for you?” Jonghyun asks, almost afraid to hear the answer.  The thought of manager hyung sings makes him cringe.

                “No.  But, I have always hoped you will sing for me to sleep.  All this while, hyung, really,” Taemin says, almost begging.

                Jonghyun sighs again and walks to Taemin’s bed.  He sits at the corner of Taemin’s bed and strokes his head.

                “What song do you want me to sing?” he asks.

                “A lullaby?” Taemin smiles.  Jonghyun chuckles and nods, and that night Taemin sleeps with Jonghyun’s voice playing in his head.  When Jonghyun is sure that all of them are asleep, he takes out his laptop and thinks it would be the best for him to procrastinate on Twitter while waiting for Jinki to come home.

                Jinki comes home very late at night, and the first thing he sees after he opens the door is the sight of Jonghyun sleeping in front of his laptop, in the living room.  He chuckles seeing the small form of the younger before him, sleeping with head on the keyboard of his laptop.

                “Jonghyun-ah,” he wakes Jonghyun up.  He knows that it is not that hard to wake Jonghyun up since he is a light sleeper.  He stirs right after JInki calls his name.

                “Hyung!  Hyung!  I’m glad you’re back!” he says, with puppy eyes sparkling and imaginary tails wagging to left and right.  Jinki laughs.

                “Yes, I’m glad that I’m back too,” he says.

                “Hyung, I did what you asked me to do.  I bought them dinner.  And they were at the dorm before twelve.  And they slept early too!  I did well, right, hyung?” Jonghyun asks him.  Jinki pats his head and laughs again.

                “Yes, Jonghyun.  You did well,” he pats the other’s head.

                “Hyung?”

                “Yes, Jonghyun?”

                “I swear, I’ll behave well and I won’t ever create problem for you again,” the younger says and Jinki laughs.

                “You are never a problem to me, Jjong,” Jinki says with a smile.

                And that night, both the eldest of SHINee sleep in the living room, singing for each other to sleep.

__________

heaDeVil^23

Mood: Mom and dad left me with my two younger brothers at home and I hate the feeling of being the eldest at home.  I wish my sister were here.

Dedicated to my elder sister <3

When You Give Sincerity, I Give You Honesty

Description: Dayana did a dance cover for Sherlock and Taemin saw it.

Rating: G

Characters: SHINee Taemin and Dayana

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the fiction. The story is only a narrative and does not involve any real life situation. The whole plot of the story is written originally by myself. If there's any similarity to other fictions, it is totally a coincidence.

Dayana lives in her own bright and colourful world she creates. The fact that she had a bad past never weighs her down even once, because she dedicates her recent life loving SHINee with her heart. Dayana loves dancing so much. She almost can’t dance, at all, once, but she fought through the terrible condition that hit her like a tsunami, which almost destroyed her life. Later, her sister introduced SHINee, a group of shining boys and since then, she focused on getting better.

She has a big hope; to change the world with her small little hand. She has a big hope; to make people acknowledge how beautiful dancing is.

She has her own crew that always support her until the end, and they trust her and make her their leader. Dayana knows her responsibility is big, but she would like to not break the trust. She leads them, and they dance, and most of the songs they dance to are SHINee’s songs. Her days become bright as the stars and their names become big. She admits part of the credits has to be given to SHINee, but she knows very well that she does a good job in dancing.

Dayana loves SHINee and she would love it if people love them as well. Thus, she continues dancing, because of her own passion and because she is so sincere in loving SHINee.

Thus, when SHINee’s Sherlock album came out, Dayana felt very excited. She watched the video and it would be an understatement if she says it is just awesome. It is more than just that. SHINee is beyond awesome. Dayana wanted to dance to it and perform it to public, so that SHINee will gain more love, so that Taemin will get more love. She went on YouTube and watched SHINee’s dance practice and stopped each second to catch every movement of the dance. She gathered her crew to once again make a magnificent performance.

There she goes again, practicing very hard each day. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight and two, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. She repeats the counting and dances to the routine. People could see how dedicated she is to the dance, as she makes it a cliché of her life, all repeated again and again. When it is announced for a K-Pop Dance Cover Competition, Dayana practices harder and harder, because she knows if she wins, people will acknowledge SHINee. If she stands out and succeeds in covering Taemin, people will know Taemin and Taemin will receive more love. That is enough for her.

However, things won’t always go the way she wants, right? People are happy if they get the first runner-up, but Dayana doesn’t. She feels like she has not done enough for SHINee. She wants to be the champion because she wants people to know SHINee, because she wants more people to love Taemin. She feels disappointed and at this time, all she needs is to be alone, far from her teammate, far from everyone. She needs time to express how guilty she feels towards SHINee for not be able to win the first place. Thus, she politely says no to her teammates’ suggestion to celebrate their winning as the first runner-up, instead, asking them to celebrate without her. They can’t do anything as they know their leader needs time to feel better again. They leave.

And Dayana cries her heart out behind the stage, when people start to leave the scene. It is dark and no one will notice her. No one, she thinks, except that there’s someone noticing.

Dayana wants to scream, to yell at that person, that she wants him to leave her alone. However, she can’t. She can’t because she knows the person very well. Despite the tears and darkness almost blocking her eyesight, she still could make out the slim figure with a guitar case hanging at his left shoulder, with a face as cute as a squirrel and the shining eyes. Those are belonged to only one person. Taemin. She stares at him, still couldn’t believe it. She must be imagining things because she is too sad.

“Can I accompany you, here?” he asks, with a very sweet smile. Dayana still is staring at him, and she can’t get herself out of the stupor, because she thinks the voice sounds so real.

“Hello?” the boy asks again. Another thirty seconds without a reply, the boy decides he doesn’t need permission and chooses to sit right beside Dayana. He puts his guitar on his lap and makes himself comfortable beside her.

“Taemin?” only one word comes out and Dayana couldn’t be so sure if it is a question, or more like a stupid greeting.

“I saw you on stage,” he says. Hearing that, tears stream down her cheeks again. So, Taemin saw her dancing and he saw her getting first runner-up. She feels disappointed and she feels like her world is going to end very soon. The apocalypse must be approaching.

“You did well,” he says encouragingly.

“No, I didn’t,” she says quickly, voice muffles with sobs.

Maybe Taemin just realise that she is crying, because he looks surprised as he hears the sniffs. He looks at her and it is very transparent that he is very worried about her.

“Hey…don’t cry…please…take this,” Taemin gives a plastic bag with a box, which Dayana doesn’t realise he has it with him all the time. It must be a box of tissue. Dayana doesn’t have any will to wipe her tears away, so she just holds that box in her hand.

“I suck at it, really,” she says. She doesn’t know why, but she feels like she knows Taemin for years. She feels comfortable telling everything to Taemin.

“You did well, really,” he goes again.

“I don’t think so.”

“I think so.”

“You’re just being nice.”

“I am just being honest,” Taemin’s words shut her up, for a while.

“What makes you think I did well?” she asks, while sniffing, trying her best to prevent the tears escaping her eyes. Taemin laughs a small laugh.

“I’ve never seen anybody covers me that well. That expression, that dressing, that dance,” he emphasizes the ‘dance’. Dayana thinks Taemin is just being sarcastic.

“Again, you’re just being nice to me,” she says.

“I am just being honest,” Taemin goes again.

“I only get the first runner-up,” Dayana says, holding in the tears. Taemin smiles at her.

“The ranking doesn’t matter. It is just a number. The most important is I could see how sincere you were when dancing just now. A true dancer doesn’t dance for the first place, but for passion. And you managed to make me acknowledge you with your sincerity, with your burning passion,” he says.

“I am not a true dancer then. I dance for the first place,” says her in a very mocking tone, most probably being sarcastic to herself.

“No, I didn’t see that,” he pauses and looks at her deeply, “Why you wanted to do my cover? Why you chose to be Taemin?”

“B-Because I l-like you,” she stutters. Taemin smiles softly to her.

“Why do you like me in the first place?” he asks.

“When I was on bed, sick, I saw you dancing in Replay, with burning passion, and it straight away gave me the strength to dance,” she confesses. Taemin smiles get wider.

“Really? Because we share the same feeling now. That was what I thought when I saw you dancing on the stage, did my cover. I still think of the same thing now. The passion you have for dancing, that is belonged to a true dancer,” he says.

“I lost,” Dayana still feels very down about it.

“But what I saw though you is sincerity,” Taemin says while taking out his guitar from the case, “It is hard for an idol to sing one-to-one to fans, but I think you deserve an honesty from me,” he says.

Taemin sings. It is Honesty from SHINee and Dayana feels appreciated.

“There’s a connection in our relationship

A huge one that I can’t explain in words

Our conversations, piled with memories

Continue on today”

Dayana thinks she should be grateful and she should never downgrade herself. And as the song goes on she feels like she just wins the competition.

“Because you’ve always been there to protect me

Because you’ve taken the criticism that I should receive

You have shielded me without a word and now

I will reflect you like a mirror”

When the song ends, Taemin sighs and then looks at her, deep into her eyes. He smiles again and Dayana smiles after that.

“I am being honest,” Taemin says.

“Thanks,” she replies, feeling very grateful.

“And you know what? The winner of the competition just now didn’t get my shoes as present. I gave it to the only person who I saw is very sincere,” he says.

“Shoes?” she asks. Taemin’s gaze moves towards the box in her hands. Dayana looks at it and she almost jumps in surprise.

“You give me your shoes?” her hands clumsily open the box and there, a pair of sneakers Taemin wore in his Replay MV Japanese Version.

“For me?” she asks again. He nods.

“And I autograph it, for you,” he says.

Dayana feel joyful since she gets a present nobody would get, Taemin dancing shoes. And she even feels happier because she could see how happy Taemin is. That is enough for her.

__________

heaDeVil^23

Mood: Flu, Cough. Sorry if the story is not nice.

Dedicated to Dayana :D

When The Reality Hits

Description: Naomi realizes that Juliet has to fall for Paris.

Rating: G

Characters: Son Dongwoon, Lee Taemin and OC

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the fiction. The story is only a narrative and does not involve any real life situation. The whole plot of the story is written originally by myself. If there's any similarity to other fictions, it is totally a coincidence. Full credits to Shakespeare for his work.

Naomi runs as fast as she can when she gets down from the bus. She knows very well that her day will be so unfortunate. She woke up late this morning and sadly left her breakfast unattended on the dining table. The bus came a bit late at the nearest stop to her home and now she is late again for her lecture.

People often say that when you are late for a lecture you better not come at all because you are already marked absence on the attendance by the time you reach the lecture room. So, there’s no point coming right? But, Naomi doesn’t think that way. With her result only up to the average level, and she is still adapting with university life, she thinks it might be the best if she is present at each class, even though she is marked absent.

However, she has been marked present until today, although she comes late to class sometimes. A best friend of her likes to help, in making her attendance perfect.

She sneaks into her lecture hall, hoping her lecturer won’t notice her movement. One wrong step and she’s over and Dongwoon is over as well. He already signed for her in the attendance, she is sure about that. If she doesn’t pull a perfect cover, Dongwoon might have to face disciplinary action, just because he’s trying to help.

“Yah, morning,” she whispers to Dongwoon when she manages to sneak in to a seat beside Dongwoon.

“Morning. You’re late again,” he points out the fact.

“I’m sorry. My attendance?” she asks.

“Settled,” he whispers. She smiles at once. Dongwoon is reliable, she thinks.

She listens to the lecture and as she turns around, she could see some of her classmates are already out of focus. Some of them are sleeping, some of them are doodling on their notes, while some others are texting through their phones. That is it. Life as students is always boring, in her opinion. Students wake up early in the morning, go for lectures, then do homework in the library and go home and do assignment and sleep and the routines repeat by themselves the next day. But, she knows she can’t run away from it.

Anyway, today is a bit different. She has an audition in the evening, for the college’s production. It is for their charity programme. A theatre to raise money for the spastic children, and she really wants to take part in it.

“Are you going for the audition this evening?” asks Naomi to Dongwoon when the lecture ends.

“Romeo and Juliet?”

“Yeah. I’m going,” she says.

“Great. I’m going as well. I want to try out for Romeo. I want to be the main cast,” Dongwoon says with a smirk.

“Ooohhh…how ambitious you are. I want to be the main cast too. I’ll make sure I’ll be Juliet,” Naomi exclaims.

“I am very sure you’ll get to be Juliet. You have it in you,” Dongwoon encourages his best friend.

“Hey, Naomi! The result is already out. It is on the information board! I think you’re chosen as Juliet. I heard it from somebody just now!” exclaims her friend.

“Really? Where’s Dongwoon? He needs to know about this!” Naomi starts to shouts hysterically while running to the information board.

She’s not yet arrived but someone has already approached her. Dongwoon runs towards her with a face brighter than the sun.

“Oh my God! Naomi! You made it! You’re Juliet!” he hugs her.

“Really?! I need to see it myself,” she runs with him to the board and upon seeing her name as Juliet on the board, she shouts cheerfully.

“Oh my God! I’m Juliet! But, who’s Romeo?” she looks again at the board.

“Lee Taemin? Not you Dongwoon?” she looks at her best friend.

“Nah…I’m Count Paris. See?” he points to his name.

“That’s bad…I thought we could act as Romeo and Juliet. But, who is this Lee Taemin anyway?” she asks.

“A guy from the Faculty of Science I think,” Dongwoon guesses based on his knowledge about students in the college.

And Dongwoon actually gets it right.

It is their first training session for the production. The teacher is giving them the script, to get them familiar with the flow of the story. But, everyone knows the story of two young lovers, who are very passionate, but their love is not approved and it has to end with a tragedy. Such a sad story penned down by Shakespeare, but the fame is indescribable.

“Now, now! Where’s our Romeo?” asks the teacher.

Dongwoon and Naomi are too absorbed by the script until they don’t realise that Romeo is not yet present. Both of them look at the teacher and raise their shoulders, indicating they don’t know Taemin’s whereabouts. Right at that moment, the door bursts open.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry Madam. The lecture ends quite late. I promise I won’t be late again,” Taemin bows to the teacher.

At the first sight, Naomi is mesmerized by Taemin’s good look. His brown strand of hair is shining like gold in her eyes and his skin looks so smooth and milky. His voice is definitely something that catches her attention and Naomi thinks she likes her Romeo straight away.

“Hey, Naomi!” she is shocked by Dongwoon’s loud voice.

“What?” she asks. He laughs.

“Seriously? You look at him like you want to grab him into your pocket straight away,” he says with laugh.

“Yah! Dongwoon-ah! Aish!” she slaps his arm.

“Ouch. That hurts,” he resumes his laugh. Naomi feels embarrassed, “Looks like someone here won’t have problem to be the best Juliet!” Dongwoon exclaims with a smirk.

The room is filled with music for ballroom dancing. Naomi is ready to get into her part in the Scene V. She wants to get this done by today. She just has to do it well and go home and rest.

“If I profane with my unworthiest hand

This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this:

My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand

To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.”

Taemin says his line and extends his hand for Juliet to take it. Naomi takes his hand and instead of feeling the rough skin as he says in his line, she feels a very smooth touch.

“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,

Which mannerly devotion shows in this;

For saints have hands that pilgrims’ hand do touch,

And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.”

Naomi replies Taemin as what is written in the given script. However, that is what she really means. His hand is very tender and she could feel his smooth palm on her own palm. The scene continues with a ballroom dance which takes place right after that. It is a good feeling to dance with Taemin. He is a very good dancer. His movements are very graceful and she is captivated by them. And more and more dialogues before they say their last dialogue, before Romeo and Juliet have to part.

“Then have my lips the scene that they have took.”

Says Juliet.

“Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg’d!

Give me my sin again.”

Right after the dialogue, Taemin holds her face and kisses her deeply. Naomi tries her best not to shock, or worse, to laugh. Instead, she kisses him back, just for the sake of the training. She promises to do her best and she’ll do it. They let go after a few seconds and Romeo moves to his next line while Juliet goes to her mother.

And finally the training session ends greatly. They applaud for themselves for all the efforts they put on to make every scene perfect. Although it doesn’t involve all scenes yet but they think it is a good start for the charity theatre.

“Nice start, people. See you again tomorrow, same time, same place,” the teacher says.

“Wow, Naomi! You did great! Just now it was just…wow!” Dongwoon praises Naomi.

“You were good as well Count Paris,” Naomi wipes her sweat with her towel.

“Hey, Naomi!”

She turns to the owner of the voice. She knows it is Taemin’s and she anticipates on why he calls her out of the blue.

“Yes?”

“Going anywhere after this?” he asks. Naomi looks at Dongwoon and he shrugs.

“I don’t think so. Why?” she asks back.

“I’m thinking of us going out. To practice our next scene together and make everything perfect, like today,” he says with a convincing smile. But, when he sees Dongwoon, his smile fades, “I mean only the two of us,” he resumes.

She looks at Dongwoon again. He smiles a very retarded smile and shrugs again. Naomi immediately takes that as an ‘ok’ and nods to Taemin.

“Sure. Where are we going?” she asks.

“Well…my mom has a dance studio. I think we can practice there and go for our dinner right after,” Taemin says.

“Fine. Dongwoon, see you tomorrow. And if I’m late, you know what should you do, right?” Naomi says, more like giving an instruction. Dongwoon nods and smiles, knowing he’s hurt inside.

“Lady, by yonder blessed moon I vow,

That tips with silver all these fruit tree tops-”

“O, swear not by the moon, th’ inconstant moon,

That monthly changes in her circled orb,

Lest that thy prove likewise variable.”

Juliet quickly cuts Romeo’s words and explains why he shouldn’t swear his love by the moon, because the moon disappears during the day and only presents at night.

“What shall I swear by?”

Asks Romeo curiously, with a frown on his forehead.

“Do not swear at all;

Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,

Which is the god of my idolatry,

And I’ll believe thee.”

Juliet in return says that she worships Romeo as her idol and himself is enough without the swear he tries to make. Both of them go on with the romantic balcony scene until the coach yells his satisfaction.

“Bravo, team! Bravo! I feel it. I feel the strong love from the two young lovers. Bravo!” says the coach. They are given their rest before they start with the next scene.

“Hey, nice one, Naomi!” Dongwoon greets him. It has been a day long they don’t talk to each other. Not intentionally, but they were being separated into groups for fieldwork this morning. And they came back to the college for practice right after they finished their tasks.

“Of course. We did it yesterday,” Naomi winks.

“Owh…you mean with Taemin? How was yesterday? I heard he proposed you as…err…girlfriend. He is one hell of a guy, very fast. I wish I could be him,” says Dongwoon.

“Be him? You’re good by yourself,” she says.

“Yeah…but he is hot,” Dongwoon’s voice changes very low.

“I think so,” Naomi just doesn’t notice how desperate Dongwoon is.

“So…do you accept it? To be his girlfriend?” asks Dongwoon, very curious, like a kid wishing to know when he will receive a present from Santa. Naomi laughs.

“Well, I like him. But, there’s a missing piece in my heart. I ask him to give me time to answer and he says he could wait,” Naomi explains yesterday’s incident. Dongwoon sighs, relieve.

Don’t be too late when it comes to love.

It is almost the day of the stage and the crew productions are busy preparing for it – attires, lights, sounds, invitation, tickets and many more. Everybody is busy. The casts are now with their tailors, having their measurements taken, to get the best clothes that fit them. While the tailors moving the measuring tape all over their bodies, the scripts escape their mouths. No one dare to waste any more time. The stage has to be perfect.

“Go, get thee hence, for I will not away.

What’s here? A cup, clos’d in my true love’s hand?

Poison, I see, hath been his timeless end.

O churl! Drunk all, and left no friendly drop

To help me after? I will kiss thy lips;

Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,

To make me die with a restorative.

Thy lips are warm.”

Naomi practices her lines over and over again full with her heart. She wants to steal the audience on the day. And the more she’s doing it, the more she figures out to whom her heart is belonged to.

Naomi feels her shoulders are tensing. She’s in her tomb, acting as if she is died. She promises to do her best to be like a dead corpse, in the scene where Juliet is unconscious, as if dying, and Romeo visits her tomb. Paris comes, wanting to claim his right on Juliet, which he is supposed to married, except that Juliet is ‘dead’. Romeo claims his love for Juliet and they fights, literally, with swords.

Naomi knows she has to be dead, but she can’t help herself anymore. She opens her eyes into very narrow slits, just enough for her to watch the epic scene involving Dongwoon and Taemin. Dongwoon as Paris is very handsome and Taemin as Romeo is hot.

In Shakespeare’s mind, Romeo should win, but in her very own mind, she wants Paris to be alive and Romeo to be dead. She knows her heart now. It is for Dongwoon, only for Dongwoon.

Right after they receive a loud applause for their brilliant show, Naomi pulls Taemin to somewhere a bit hidden in the preparation room. She has to tell Taemin her feelings.

“I’ve made my decision,” she says.

“And?” he asks softly.

“I…can’t be your girlfriend,” Naomi says.

For a while, silent engulfs them, leaving no trace of sound, even the time freezes. Then, Taemin smiles and nods forcefully, but full with sincerity.

“I thought I am good enough. But, he is better than me I guess,” says Taemin while looking at the door. Naomi turns around to see Dongwoon stands at the door and looks so shocked.

“Oh…I’m sorry…I’ll leave,” he says and about to turns around.

“No, Dongwoon. My session in over. You’re on time. It’s your session now. I’ve…just lost,” Taemin says with a sincere smile and leaves. Naomi isn’t sure if she will get to see him again.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t mean to eavesdrop or to stalk on you guys. I just…it is really a coincidence,” Dongwoon stutters.

“It’s okay, Dongwoon. You’ve heard everything,” Naomi sighs.

“I thought he is your type,” Dongwoon argues.

“He is, but there’s a huge piece missing,” she says.

“Are you sure what you are talking about?” he asks.

Naomi sighs, noticing how slow Dongwoon is to understand the real situation. Or perhaps he understands, but denying, because he feels guilty towards Taemin.

“You know what, Dongwoon? If I can make a fanfic of Romeo and Juliet, I’ll make Juliet with Paris in the end. Shakespeare might be happier if he knows it.”

__________

heaDeVil^23

Mood: Spazzing on SHINee Sherlock and The Hunger Games