The date is March 13th, 2017. Son Naeun was sitting on the couch and watching television all alone in the comfort of her dorm. All of the other members were busy; Eunji working on her album, Hayoung in the studio to finish recording their Japanese single, and the rest are practicing for their upcoming concert in Japan.

Naeun was currently watching “Order & Cook” which is just premiering today on Olive. Taemin, who is currently in Japan for Shinee’s Japan Arena Tour 2017, told her to watch it. Naeun didn’t get why since Onew was the one in the show, not him.

It wasn’t until the show suddenly showed a self-cam of Onew interviewing Taemin about his cooking that she got why. Taemin, being Taemin, was trying his best to give ‘positive’ feedback on Onew’s cooking.

"Several years ago in Spain, he made Paella. I can't forget it... The food that Onew made was different." Hearing that coming out of Taemin’s mouth gave Naeun a huge shock. Is he stupid? Why would he say Spain and Paella in one sentence? Hopefully fans won’t notice…she tried to calm herself down.

But at the same time, she can’t deny that it didn’t make her heart flutter.

It was 2013, when Taemin and Naeun first met on the show ‘We Got Married’. It had been a few months into their fake marriage, and surprisingly, they had both grown fond of each other.

“Okay...Cut!” the director yelled. They were finally done filming. Right now, they were at a campsite which Taemin had tried his best to make look like Spain.

Everyone was packing up their cameras so Naeun decided to disassemble the tent. Seeing that, Taemin came over to help her.

“You didn’t have to lie,” Taemin said which surprised Naeun.

“About what?” she questioned innocently.

“The paella.”

“It was good though.”

“But it wasn’t paella.”

“That’s true,” Naeun giggled. “By the way, where did you learn how to make it?”

“Onew hyung made it when we were in Spain,” Taemin replied casually.

“Spain? You went to Spain before?”

“Didn’t I tell you about that? It was two years ago. Onew hyung, Key hyung, and I. We went there to make a travel photo book.”

“That’s not fair,” Naeun pouted without knowing which made Taemin’s cheekbones rise up.

“Maybe someday we could actually go to Spain together….” Taemin trailed off. A staff member, however, interrupted the awkwardness before it even started.

“Naeun-ssi, Taemin-ssi. You don’t have to help out. You guys are probably busy and have a schedule after this. Go and rest.”

“No, it’s fine. We’ll just finish disassembling this,” Naeun insisted which made the staff leave. They finished in silence.

It wasn’t until Naeun was on her way to her dorm that she noticed how she was still wearing his jacket. It was about halfway through dinner that Taemin saw Naeun shivering slightly and curling up a little. He stood up suddenly which made Naeun question him internally. He came back in about a minute.

All of a sudden she felt something warm draping on her shoulders. She felt his head leaning close on her shoulders and also a blanket landing on her lap. Her heart was beating rapidly with the realization of how close their heads were but Taemin just pulled away and went back to eat his paella as if nothing happened.

She was zoning out and studying his face while he was talking. The glint in his eyes, his cute cheekbones, and the way he slightly smiles while he talks. It gave her butterflies in her stomach.

And that was how she, Son Naeun, fell for Lee Taemin.

It was now nighttime and Naeun was waiting for Taemin’s daily call. Her phone rang which placed a smile on her face.

“Hello?” she picked up.

“Hi. Did you watch it?”

“Watch what?” she .

“I know you watched it.”

“I did. But why did you have to mention paella? You could’ve criticized another one of his dishes. What if people find out?”

“We need to tease fans sometimes. And didn’t you accept that bear,” Taemin pointed out. That’s true, Naeun did accept a bear from a Chinese Taeun fansite back in February. It was during their ‘Pink Aurora’ Tour in Hong Kong.

“Fine. At least nobody but Taeunians actually pay attention to us so we’re safe.”

“Taeunians?”

“Yes, I’ve told you multiple times before. They’re our fans. Taeun’s fans.”

“Naeun-ah, should I come back?”

“To Korea? I mean, you do have 2 to 3 weeks before the next concerts. But even if you do come back here, I’ll be busy. I have to rehearse for the upcoming Japan concerts.”

“Where are your performances?”

“On the 1st it’s in Tokyo and we have to go to Kobe on the 2nd.”

“Well, I’m in Tokyo right now. It isn’t until the 4th that I’ll have to be in Aichi. So if you come a few days before, maybe we can meet up?”

“I guess we could sort it out later. It’s late though, you should go to sleep.”

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you too. Bye.” Naeun hung up.

Sometimes, she questions how they can always make time for each other and maintain such a relationship despite their schedules.

It was the MBC Gayo Daejejeon. And it was New Year’s Eve, which meant that once again, Taemin and Naeun would spend New Year’s together but while working. At the start of the show, they were sitting far away from each other, not that that’s a bad thing. Naeun and Taemin had both agreed that they would keep it professional while working.

It was finally Apink’s turn but unfortunately, Taemin couldn’t watch it live. He was backstage. He also knew that all of the monitors and also on T.V., it will show the prerecorded version. However, he was able to catch a glimpse of their performance. Apink was strolling down past the idol section and BtoB were cheering for them and also high fiving some of them. He felt jealous. He felt jealous of how BtoB can publicly display their family relationship with Apink and it will be fine. But if he cheered for Naeun like that publicly, netizens will be after both of them.

It was now the New Year’s countdown. Taemin was in the back but he can see Naeun in the field of his vision. She was talking with Hayoung. They were so close yet so far, it’s always been like that. Maybe this year it will change…

It was now Shinee’s turn to perform ‘Ring Ding Dong’. When Taemin got on stage, he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Naeun watching. He did notice that she had a BtoB member’s jacket on her lap so he made a mental note to question her about that later.

While watching the performance, Naeun kept her straight face on. After she saw how at the beginning, they zoomed in on Hayoung and Chorong, she made sure to take no chances. Beside her, Eunji was clapping along and so was Hayoung while Chorong was smiling. Oh how she wish she could enjoy herself.

She was right. At the end of the song, they zoomed in on Apink and BtoB’s reaction. It was MBC after all. But she couldn’t hate them, they did bring her and Taemin together. They were the ones to create ‘We Got Married’.

It was the ending stage. Taemin was off goofing with the SM boys when he caught Naeun’s eyes. She was on the main stage while he was on the sides. After seeing her giving him the ‘what-happened-to-ignoring-me’ look, he immediately turned his face around and smiled to the camera. Apink weren’t really that wild around others but if they’re by themselves, things can get messy. Naeun is also like that, when she’s with him, she doesn’t seem as bored as the face she puts on. He wants her to smile more. And he also wants to be nearer to her.

It was about 2:00am when Naeun got to the MBC rooftop. As expected, Taemin was already there. They had done this every year, a date on the MBC rooftop after the Gayo.

“Naeun-ah,” Taemin whined the second he saw her.

“What?” she said as she came into his embrace.

“Whose jacket was that?”

“I’m not telling you,” she joked.

‘“Tell me! Tell me!” he pestered her.

“Is this seriously the first thing you say to me after I just got back from Japan a few days ago?”

“Sorry,” he smiled. It was a warm smile but it was different from the smile he wore on stage. She does prefer this smile way better.

Naeun had been reminiscing all of the memories that she and Taemin had had. It brought a smile upon her face. She couldn’t wait for them to create new ones.

I wasn't planning on writing a Taeun chapter yet but after hearing Taemin mentioning paella, I got inspired. I just need a few inspirations to finish the stories that I'm currently working on. Hopefully I can get a Kaistal or Lundae story up next.