Finding myself in another store, trying on the hundred damned pair of shoes I glared at every shopper who looked at me. I was tired. I was hungry. I was aching. Then I looked over to the shelves where Taemin stood, disguised of course, merrily plucking shoes he thought might suit the dress and me.

I hobbled in the latest pair of heels he found me, a deep crimson with straps at the ankles and quite high heels. I stood reflecting on myself in the mirror when Taemin popped up behind me startling me. I lost my balance and fell back into his arms. Spinning around I gave him a long hard look, his arms still wrapped around me, contact which I was all too aware of.

‘Sorry,’ he said, my moodiness obviously slowly seeping away his happiness as he removed his hands.

Feeling guilty and sorry for my actions I gently took his hands in mine.

‘I’m sorry,’ I apologised. Taemin surprised by my sudden change in mood wrapped me in a hug.

‘It’s okay Terra, I just want you to be happy.’

As we broke away I couldn’t help smiling.

‘That was cheesy.’

Taemin just grinned sheepishly and the pairs of shoes he’d found into my arms. Somehow I managed to make my way back to a chair and try them on. Taemin sat opposite patiently watching me put on one after the other. Eventually I found one, a midnight black pair which had fairly high heels but was pretty comfortable and provided support for my ankles in the form of straps and had an open toe. I walked around the store with Taemin holding my hand to make sure I didn’t fall. I had declined his offer but as he watched me slowly drag myself over the store he valiantly took my hand and acted as my pillar of support.

‘This is the one.’ I said with such relief as if I had just found my long lost child. I replaced the heels with my pair of much more comfortable ankle boots. Taemin had efficiently collected the chosen pair and paid at the cashier. Face palming myself I was annoyed that he had managed to pay while I was pulling on my shoes.

‘Taemin I’m going to kill you,’ I said through gritted teeth as we exited the store.

‘Don’t worry,’ he replied smugly. ‘You can pay me back.’

‘What?’

‘We still haven’t finished our itinerary.’ Pulling out a piece of paper, there was a checklist of what he had planned for today.

‘Let me see,’ I said making to grab the paper but Taemin whipped it above his head so I couldn’t reach. ‘Hey, no fair!’ I pouted. ‘So where are we going?’ I asked in defeat as Taemin stubbornly wouldn’t hand over the paper.

‘The dance studio,’ his eyes shining, from excitement, would be my guess.

We arrived and Taemin had a few more surprises in store for me.

‘Put on your costume.’

I gaped at him. ‘You’re not serious are you? I don’t even know the dance.’

Smiling knowingly, ‘The more practice you have with these heels and dress, the more confident you will be in the competition right?’

Deep down I knew he was right but I remained loyal to my original opinion.

‘I can barely walk in them, and you expect me to dance in them?!’ I asked incredulously.

An evil glint entered his eyes, something I haven’t seen except maybe in SHINee’s Lucifer performances.

‘I can help you change into your attire, if you’re not going to do it yourself.’ He slowly edged closer towards me.

The maknae was seriously gone.

‘Okay, okay, okay,’ I said putting my hands up. ‘You win. I’ll get changed but that means you have to too.’

‘Of course,’ he replied reverting back to the innocent maknae handing over my shopping.

Shaking off my surprise at his actions Taemin wasn’t as innocent as I thought.

I came out of the dressing room to find Taemin choreographing our dance looking jaw dropping in his formals.

I think I was gaping for too long as he stopped and looked at me, tilting his head to the side as an inquisitive puppy would seeing something new for the first time.

‘Everything okay T?’

I was too preoccupied with his appearance to scold him for calling me a letter. I only nodded not trusting myself to speak.

‘Then let’s get started.’

He pulled me into the middle of the dance studio. Gently placing his hand on my waist I jumped. His hand was warm but, fortunately or not, there was not material separating his touch from my waist. I robotically put my hand on his shoulder as he had instructed me in our last dance lesson but I could not bring my gaze to meet his. My face felt like it was a tomato so I attentively listen to Taemin’s soft instructions and we set off learning the dance.

After what seemed like hours I had collapsed into a armchair in the corner of the room taking a gulp from my bottle.

‘Aren’t you tired?’ I asked Taemin, who was half choreographing half drinking his own revitalizing formula.

‘Not that much,’ he admitted. ‘Are you okay to carry on?’

up my pained feet and aching limbs I nodded and made my way to Taemin. I wasn’t as awkward dancing with him as we had been going at it for hours and my embarrassment was spent. At this point I was just focusing on learning the dance so Taemin and I wouldn’t be embarrassed to perform in the dance competition. But no need to say Taemin could never embarrass himself in dance. That was one thing he’d probably never outwardly admit but we both knew it.

‘One, two, three, four and spin.’ Taemin held one hand while I spun outward. ‘I think we’ll leave it there for today.’

‘So how much of the dance did we learn?’ I asked eagerly.

‘About a quarter,’ he replied dead pan.

My excitement was crushed like a bug under a rock.

‘Seriously!’ I sighed, let down my hair and quickly pulled on my hoodie and sweats which I had borrowed from Kai.

‘Don’t worry,’ Taemin said after I traded my heels for trainers and collected my belongings. ‘We have plenty of time before the competition.’

I nodded, but still frustrated at my slow comprehension and ability to control my body to dance properly.

Taemin accompanied me home, he still wearing the outfit I had found him.

‘I’ll see you at school,’ he said as he bade me goodnight.

‘Bye,’ I called waving as he walked home.

Entering my apartment I glanced at the clock, it was only seven, yet I already felt so tired.

Lacking the energy to take a shower I just took off my hoodie and Kai’s sweats leaving me in my red dress. I looked in the mirror again to see if it really suited me. It didn’t look half bad, I thought comforting myself.

I made myself some dinner, instant noodles, as I was too tired to cook anything more complicated. Just as I was finishing my meal I heard a knock on the door.  Setting the container to one side, I heard the scrape of my chair as I pushed it back and walked to the door.

Who was this?

Disturbing my meal, after not only a long but tiring day too.

I ran a hand through my hair and opened the door.