Your POV

The next few days were busy with practice and preparing to move into the dorms. You spent a lot of your time hanging out with your friends knowing that when the competition started you’d have less time for them. Thankfully Hara would be going with you. On the last day before you were expected to move in you, Hara, and IU decided to go shopping at the dongdaemun night market. Both Hara and you needed to get a few things anyways and it would probably be a long while before you made it back there.

The three of you had fun bartering with the ahjummas in an attempt to make them lower the price and in the end all three of you had scored a bunch of bargains. You bought mostly new clothes thanks to Hara’s constant pestering about ‘how pretty you would look in this’ or ‘that is such a good color for you’. Rather than fight her you just let her do as she pleased, which resulted in you being like her own personal Barbie doll. It seemed that your ratty t’s and sweats were no longer acceptable. You had to admit though that her choices were flattering and in some ways fit your personality better than your old clothes. It never hurt to have pretty clothes was how you justified your many purchases.

When the three of you spotted a grouping of open stools at a cute dukbokki stand you made a beeline for them. It was hard work doing all that shopping and you were starving. As the sun had already set, the night air was a little chilly and the warm food was made that much more delicious.

“Hey have you talked to GD at all recently?” Hara asked suddenly.

“No why?”

“Well TOP mentioned something to me the other day about GD being all pouty because someone hasn’t been answering his text messages and I thought it might be you.” Hara surmised.

“Oh well I have been ignoring his text messages.”

“Wait what?” Hara asked confused.

Taking a bite you chewed it thoughtfully before answering. “You said have you ‘talked’ to him recently and no I haven’t.  You said nothing about having texted him.”

“Melody…” She said threateningly.

“Ugh what is up with everyone saying my name like that lately? For your information I’m still mad at him for how that rap battle turned out. Besides he is an idol from another company and I don’t really have time for him now. If you haven’t noticed it’s not like as trainees we have a lot of free time.”

Hara puffed out her cheeks at you obviously trying to hold back her anger. “Fine then if you won’t answer them I will just have to tell you what they say. He wants to treat you to a meal for being a complete jerk and not watching out for you better.”

“Oh.”

“Jeez did you even read them?” Hara asked skeptically.

You couldn’t quite hide your guilty look.

Hara caught your brief look though and sighed with frustration. “Mel what am I going to do with you? Did you just delete them right away without even looking at them?”

All you could do was nod.

“I guess there is nothing to do about it now, but will you promise me you will text him?”

Once again you nodded. Hara was still talking, no doubt giving you a lengthy lecture that would do your brother proud, but no sound was coming out. Confused you put a hand to your ear, when all of a sudden sound came back. The feeling was similar to when you forget you had your iPod turned all the way up and hook in your ear buds basically blowing out your eardrums.

The streets of Dongdaemun were filled with the screams of hundreds of girls.

Well this seems eerily familiar…

Sure enough the crowd surged forward and you found yourself face to face with a video camera. Quickly you turned so that your back was facing the lens and tried to blend into the background. Hara however being the curious one turned to face the camera head on. She kept nudging you with her elbow, but you chose not to respond. So instead she leaned down in your ear and whispered.

“So you’ll never guess who just walked up to our dukbokki stand…” She said excitedly. “Shinee!!!”

Startled you whipped around and found out Hara wasn’t lying. Shinee was indeed standing there in all their popularity surrounded by fans with a camera fixed on them.

Can this possibly get any worse??? Of course it can…

“Oooh and what have we here? Three lovely ladies enjoying a late night snack.” The host pointed out and momentarily you were blinded by the camera light when he turned to capture you on film. “Are you ladies a fan of Shinee?”

“Of course we are!” Hara practically yelled. She threw her arms around you and IU knocking you off your stool. Quickly you tried to put your hand over while simultaneously pulling her away. Unfortunately she was having none of that and managed to evade your attempts. “We are even trainees in the same company.” Hara bragged.

Oh no she did not just say that…

Boom the MC naturally jumped right on it. “You don’t say? Are all three of you members?”

At this point there was no use denying it so you just nodded.

“You girls are so pretty don’t you think so Shinee? Have you all met before?” He skillfully drew Shinee into the conversation.

“Yes they are very cute and we’ve all seen them around. SM prides itself on being a family and we enjoy helping to train our hoobaes.” Onew said diplomatically. “Taemin especially likes to spend time with the younger trainees.”

You looked at Taemin to see his reaction and you visibly cringed. His eyes were dangerous telegraphing that he was up to something.

“Is that true Taemin-ssi?” Boom asked.

“Yes I love it. I mean who wouldn’t want to work closely with all those good looking girls.” He half joked.

There was a short break while everyone laughed and more than a few of the girls in the crowd looked on in jealousy. Taemin looked at you and winked while the audience’s attention was diverted.

I know that look. He is about to do something that is going to make me very angry…

“Perhaps we should let the girls do a little self-introduction and show off one of their talents. It would be a great opportunity for them to promote themselves and our company.”  He suggested.

Boom readily agreed. “What do you say ladies, you up for it?”

Hara at some point had elected herself spokesperson and answered for all of you. “We’d love to! I’ll start!”

She stepped into the middle of the small circle formed by Shinee’s fans. “My name is Goo Hara and I’m 17 years old and my specialty is my y wave.”

She then proceeded to demonstrate her y wave for the crowd. The guys whistled and cheered loudly, while Shinee clapped politely. IU was up next and was visibly shaking.

“Ummm My.. My name is IU and I’m 16 years old and my specialty is my clear voice.” She sang a short clip of her audition song receiving the crowd’s approval as well. The PD of the show was loving it. She had never had such a fun and interesting show before.

“Wow isn’t SM just amazing folks. I mean look at the quality of their trainees. We have just one left why don’t we all give her a round of applause; she is looking kind of nervous.” Boom suggested being the professional MC that he was.

“I’m not nervous.” You said confidently.

Boom was taken aback and for once in his life was at a loss for words. It was a small victory, but it still felt good.

“You got guts young lady now let’s see what you can do.”

Shrugging you made your way towards the middle of the circle and faced the camera prepared to give your self-introduction, when Taemin spoke up once again. “Might I make another suggestion? Perhaps since it is the last one we should make it more interesting by having one of us perform with her.”

“Excellent idea. Taemin since it was your idea why don’t you do the honors.” Boom said.

 “No problem.”

Clearly this was what he had in mind the whole time. Angry with him you gave him a discreet pinch to tell him you weren’t happy. He just smiled though and whispered into your ear “Behave.” Deciding to ignore him and get through this as fast as possible you turned to the camera once again and introduced yourself.

“My name is Song Melody. I’m 16 years old and my specialty is freestyle dancing.”

“You have a bit of an accent Melody. Where are you from?” Boom asked.

 You were irritated that Boom was making you stand in the spotlight longer by asking questions, but you did your best to hide your rapidly growing frustration.

“I recently moved here from the states.”

Hearing you were from the U.S. Boom proceeded to throw out random English phrases at you like ‘cool dude’   ‘call me’   ‘don’t touch me’   ‘what’s up man?’ All you could do was play along or else risk being considered rude for having offended one of the most loved MCs.

Finished bombarding you with random words Boom resumed his hosting duties. “Well now that we’ve all got our English lesson in, would you care to show us a dance?”

You nodded and Taemin turned to speak to you.

“Should we show them that new dance you’ve been working on?”

It was an upbeat dance with powerful popping in it that you’d asked Taemin for help on, so naturally he knew it too. Not having any better ideas you agreed. Somehow the PD produced background music and the two of you proceeded to captivate the crowd with your precise dance moves. The two of you were in perfect unison despite Taemin only being able to practice it with a few times because of his busy schedule. It was like you moved as one unit instead of two separate people, even your breathing matched. It was a weird feeling.

Striking your finishing pose you noticed that the street was completely silent despite the amount of people crowding around you. Then all of a sudden they erupted in cheers chanting your name. It was a surreal feeling to be standing in the middle of the night market surrounded by cheers and you couldn’t help but smile at Taemin in satisfaction. Luckily you caught yourself before you tried to hug him in celebration.

“That was unbelievable! What do you think Shawols was that amazing or what?”

Once again the crowd erupted in cheers drowning out all other noises. Looking at your friends you weren’t surprised to see Hara downright jumping with glee and IU blushing furiously under the loud cheers. The rest of Shinee looked at you with guarded eyes and you could practically see the gears turning in their heads as they silently judged you.

Fantastic as if I need more people scrutinizing me and trying to figure out all my secrets.

Happy with your mini impromptu showcases the PD suggested moving Shinee to a quieter location to be interviewed more comfortably. Shinee’s manager told the three of you to come along saying you could wait in their van while they finished up and then he would take you all home. You were extremely thankful because judging by the crowd they looked they wanted to eat you alive and pick you apart for information on Shinee.

Once you were safely ensconced in the van it was finally possible to relax. While you waited for Shinee to return from their interview you listened as Hara and IU gushed about the whole experience. You on the other hand were too tired to participate and eventually fell asleep.

 You were woken from your peaceful slumber as the van door slid open revealing a familiar area of town. You rubbed your eyes sleepily wondering if you were still dreaming. “Huh? Where? This street looks awfully like the one I live on?”

“Hey sleepy head wake up!” Hara shook you rather violently. “I’m tired and want to get home at a decent hour. I still have to finish packing before tomorrow.”

“Arasoooo…” You said still half asleep as you climbed out of the van.

Halfway up your street you heard the tell-tale signs someone running up behind you. Of course it was Taemin…

“Hey you forgot your cell phone.”

You reached into your pocket and felt the familiar shape of your cell. “No I didn’t…” Taemin grinned at you. “Why you conniving little…”

“You have to admit that it was a pretty smooth lie to get some alone time with you. The manager didn’t want to have to deal with getting it back to you himself. He can be exceptionally lazy sometimes and I took advantage of it naturally.” Taemin explained.

“You know I wonder how the rest of the world would react if they found out that underneath your pretty exterior and innocence lies one of the most manipulate beasts of all time.”

“Awww don’t flatter me too much it might go to my head.”

You just rolled your eyes. “So what do you need?”

Instantly he became more serious. “I told you earlier that we still had a lot to discuss. Basically I’m really happy that you like me too, but I’m not satisfied with that. I want to go on a date with you, show you off to my friends, and do all that other boyfriend/girlfriend stuff.”

Your jaw dropped in shock. “You must be out of your mind.”

He just shook his head. “I’ve never been as sane as I am right now in my entire life. I know it is going to be difficult, but I think it’s worth it even if we can’t make it public. What do you say?”

“No absolutely not! Have you thought about what would happen to me if this got out? I would be blacklisted at every major company. I have no power, no influence to stop them from kicking me out if somehow the company discovers us.”

“I’ve already thought of a solution to that issue.”

Skeptical you had to ask what it was.

“We will just wait until you debut and have enough popularity that the company can’t do anything for fear of losing money and angering a lot of people.” He explained it like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“That’s it you’ve officially gone crazy. I’m telling your manager.” You started to walk in the direction of the van when he pulled you back hard into his chest. For being as small as he was he was surprisingly strong and for just a moment you thought that everything would work out. That was until a nearby door slammed and reality came crashing back in. “Let go.”

“No just listen…”

“No you listen!” You interrupted him. “We aren’t just normal teenagers. You are a world superstar and I want to get the chance to stand on that stage. There are just so many things to think about. Like my brother and our careers. Not to mention…”

Taemin effectively silenced the rest of your argument with a kiss and it was at that moment you realized your defeat. All of the trouble would be worth it if Taemin only kissed you that way.

“I know that it is going to be extremely difficult and that I have to be patient. Just put your trust in me. It isn’t going to happen overnight. It is going to take time to get to a place where I can openly say I’m dating you, in fact it might even be years from now. Regardless I still want to try. Don’t you?”

At a loss for words you could only nod bumping your head against his chin. “I hate you…” You whispered effectively causing Taemin to burst into laughter.

“And that is exactly why I like you. Your sense of humor is truly one of a kind.”

Leaning back as much as you could while Taemin still had you in his arms you glared up at him. “Gee thanks. I’m glad that you find this situation amusing. But in all seriousness what do we do now?”

He smiled down at you. “We continue hanging out like we have been. We keep up the appearance that we are just close friends and when you finally debut I get to take you out on a date. Though it will have to be on the sly, I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble. Then when you are an international sensation I will announce to the world that you are my girlfriend.”

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Love truly conquers all.” He joked. *BEEP*BEEP* “That’ll be manager hyung wondering how I managed to take so long to return a phone. So why don’t you go get a good night sleep and we can talk more later. Do you want me to call you when I get back to the dorms?”

“No that’s ok. I’m fine really. It is just a lot to take in. I’ll see you later at the company.”

“Alright see ya around.” He said while he walked back towards the van.

 Suddenly he turned back around. “I forgot something.” Then he gave you the most wonderful goodnight kiss ever! It was difficult to resist clinging to him as your knees turned to jelly. You were too stubborn to admit that his kiss affected you this much. When you finally broke apart he leaned in and whispered in your ear.

“By the way it might not be as long as you think before I get that date from you.”

It took you awhile in your dazed state for his words to sink in. “Hey what do you mean by that?!” You yelled at his retreating back.

He looked back over his shoulder and winked. “I heard you are moving into the dorms tomorrow…”

Why that cocky little… where does he get his information from???

A/N: This is officially the longest chapter ever. I debated splitting it up, but that just seemed cruel. I really really like this chapter and I hope you do too. By the way check out the banner I made in the forward it's the first one I've ever done. Apparently I have been blessed by my muse these past few days and I hope it continues.   Please let me know how you like it. Read, Comment, Subscribe! *HUGS READERS*  Thanks agian!   -Sarah