18 -- SHINee Lost Boys

They were finally alone. Taemin, being the sneaky boy he was, figured out a time where everyone would be busy. He was lucky that his Koala Kid promotions had ended early. After being dazed by the flashing lights and numerous shouted questions, the staff decided to cut things early for the actors. At word of it being over, he called Marilyn right away and asked if she wanted to spend some time with him back at the apartment. For some reason, she hadn't been too keen on him being over at her place lately... not that he minded. As long as he got to spend some time with her, that's all he needed.

Having the apartment empty for once was a relief. Lately, it was rare for him to be alone from the others. They even went to the Koala Kid premier with him and came home with him right after. He appreciated their support and loved the guys to death, but everyone needed breathing space.

...Except he didn't want space from Lee Lee. Seeing her skip over to the car brought a certain warmth to his heart that not too many things could equally do. They held hands secretly in the backseat in order to keep the driver from getting too suspicious and would catch each other's gaze every once in awhile, giggling at the random moments of eye contact.

Marilyn brought over some cupcakes that they shared while playing some video games in his living room once they reached home. Luckily, Taemin wasn't as competitive as Minho... but was competitive enough. Soon, they started making bets against one another.

"The loser needs to give the winner a piggyback ride all around the house," Marilyn stated, eyes glued to the screen and tongue curved upward over the upper side of her mouth.

"Hope you can hold me, then~!" Taemin sang with a grin, causing the shorter to scoff.

Things took a turn. It wasn't long after until Marilee crossed the finish line. With a happy yelp, she jumped onto the couch and started to bounce joyously around it. She leaped over Taemin a couple times, exclaiming, "I AM THE WINNER~!" while giggling. However, she was taken off-guard when Taemin suddenly pulled her down and started to tickle her, causing her to shriek.

"S-Stop! MERCY!" she panted, attempting to roll off of his lap. Once his fingers ceased, she continued, "Man! That evil cackle of yours is no joke! I thought I was gonna die."

"I'm evil," he simply stated, sounding more like an evil kitten than an evil lion. Taemin finally got up and knelt down, allowing the girl to climb onto his back. After bouncing her up securely, Taemin started to trot around the apartment.

"That way!" Marilyn called out, pointing in random directions for him to go. What could they say? They enjoyed childish things. Taemin didn't find this much of a punishment at all. Sometimes he complained of carrying her, but she wasn't that heavy. He only did it to rile her up a bit. Finally, they ended up at the last stop: his room.

Taemin was tired from the fast trots. Originally, he was going to lay backward in order to have her fall off... Instead, she latched on, bringing him down onto the bed with her.

"Let me go!"

"Never!" she attempted a cackle of her own, but failed miserably. It caused him to laugh and admire her cuteness even more. The boy rolled off of her, causing her to remain in the spot they landed with a pout. Her arms went from outstretched to crossed. "Hey, I tried. I guess I'm just not as evil as you."

He kissed her pouted lip. "Nope. Be happy~!" Taemin told her with a bright grin. His own adorable attitude erased all traces of a pout. Seeing her happy made him reach out and cuddle her to his body without another word.

She wrapped her arms around his skinny torso and snuggled into his chest. They hadn't been able to be together like this in awhile... They both missed it. The simpleness of being at peace with one another was comforting and yearned for. Marilyn smiled at the sound of his heartbeat and with her fingertips, began to follow its beat against his little side.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" Taemin joked in his own way, making her giggle automatically.

"Didn't know you were a 2PM fan," she exclaimed with a smile, opening her eyes and looking upward at the boy.

"Can I tell you something?" the boy suddenly asked, tensing up a little bit. Embarrassed at the thought, he buried his face into her vanilla scented hair. "Don't laugh."

"What?"

"Er..."

"Tell me! I won't laugh."

"It's beating for you... Ah. This heart... I-It belongs to you, you know... If you don't mind! Yeah..."

Her eyes opened again. Her lips spread into a smile filled with warmth before she propped herself up and replied, "Mine, too."

Suddenly giddy, the maknae reached out and pecked her on the lips from the sudden excitement. It caused both of them to giggle in unison. However... the simple sweet kisses didn't last long. Oh, they were still sweet... but just like their time at the cabin, it steadily grew hot.

They ventured further. Being on his bed made it more taboo and exciting. The two tried seeing how long it took before they needed air. They twisted and turned not only with their lips, but with their bodies. One minute, they were side by side. Another, he loomed over her. Lastly, she was on top of his lap. Her fingers naturally threaded through his brown locks as he propped himself up. Being already comfortable with their tongues dancing, Taemin was surprised at the random nips at his bottom lip... Surprised that he liked it as much as he did.

His eyes popped open when he heard her breath hitch. Gazing downward, he saw that one of his hands had been trailing from her thigh to her side. He was pleased when he heard the breath again as he timidly found it begin to touch the skin underneath the fabric. Well, she wasn't backing out... but why was he shaking so much?! Taemin took another deep breath to calm his racing heart and went back in for more kisses. Her hands, shocking him, had also sneaked across the skin of his back. Her cool hands contrasted against his blazing hot skin. He could feel her nails lightly run across his skin every once in awhile. Then-

"YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD TRICK ME, DIDN'T YOU?! DIDN'T YOOOOU?" Key screeched, scratching at the locked door. When did that get locked during this whole mess, anyway? "IF YOU GET ANY FARTHER THAN WHAT YOU'RE DOING NOW, I WILL BREAK THIS DOOR AND YOU! YOU'RE NOT READY!"

"UMMA! AISH!" Taemin angrily hit the back of his head against the wall, fists balled up. He wasn't planning on going that far... honest. Cheeks and ears blazing, the boy rubbed the back of his head and sat up even more now that Marilee had rolled to the other side of the bed out of surprise from Key's sudden booming voice.

Taemin grabbed a pillow and put it in his lap. He buried his face into another one put on top of the other pillow and groaned out of frustration. His friend was up... and since he was still on fire, he didn't know how to get it back down with Lee Lee still there. He felt like he was going to cry.

"WHAT WAS THAT GROAN?!"

"NOTHING'S HAPPENING!" Taemin shouted back with a pout, burying his face once more.

Marilyn smiled, amused at the boy's actions... but secretly, also was frustrated. She loved her umma, but why did he have the worst timing? Letting out a quick sigh, she straightened herself up and went to the door, unlocking it.

When Key opened it, she gave him an innocent smile. "Nothing's happening~!"

Key rose a brow. "Bull."

"But-!"

"No. This door stays wide open. We're going to have a talk in five minutes about the birds and the bees, set some rules, and then send our precious doll-face on her merry way. Alright?"

"Run away!" Jonghyun's voice suddenly shouted.

"Why?" Onew's voice asked.

"Key's going to have his birds and the bees talk again! GET OUT OF HERE WHILE YOU STILL CAN!"

"AISH! NOT AGAIN!"





Kwan finally woke up after sleeping for awhile after his night shift. As for Marilyn, she wasn't really needed at work that day. Because SM was still preparing some Japanese events and the schedules weren't quite set, Marilee was given something like a break. As long as she checked in to see what they've been eating and if they've exercised, she'd be fine. She did so twice that day just to hear their voices... Being without them was kind of weird for her.

At least SHINee Chefs was going to start back up again now that they had a little bit of extra time. She loved cooking with those boys. The fans were just as anxious for a new episode as she was.

After Kwan dug through some of the leftovers Marilyn had left him from her own breakfast and heated them up, he plopped next to her on the small couch and watched the latest We Got Married episode with her. Honestly, the only reason she was interested in this season was because of Oppa Teukkie. She giggled at his different shy personality whenever he was around Sora. They were cute.

"Aish, can't we watch something manly?"

"You're manly?" she rose a brow towards him with a smirk.

"Yah! I'm the manliest man you know. Bring on the gore and tough stuff!"

"...Says the man who cried while watching The Lion King~!"

Kwan pouted. "You weren't sad during Mufasa's death? Come on!"

She stuck her tongue out and attempted to steal some food off of Kwan's plate when she felt her pocket buzz. Sitting back down automatically, she reached into the pocket and pulled out her pink phone.

Marilyn was surprised to see a number from America on her caller ID. Wait... America. It couldn't possibly be Mina, could it?! Was she willing to finally talk to her?! Ahh, about time! Marilee knew that Mina couldn't stay mad at her forever... especially when it really wasn't her fault. Seung ruined everything. Maybe Mina was finally starting to realize that?

Kwan looked over at her mid-bite. "Who is it?" he asked, curious about her sudden joyous smile as he slowly lowered his chopsticks.

"Hello?!" she answered excitedly.

"Hello, Marilyn?" the caller asked. The voice wasn't Mina's; she knew that right away. It was similar to Mina's tone but... matured...

"Sumi! Hello!" Marilyn replied back, recognizing Mina's mother's voice. She hadn't heard from the woman since Thanksgiving... This woman played a big role in her life back in the States. Whenever tragedy struck, she and her family were always there. She was also there to help with her Korean studies and to teach her about life in Korea throughout the years.

"Hello there, dear. I'm sorry for the sudden random call. We got a new number over here and only just found your number. We... were just wondering how Mina was?"

"Mina?" she repeated, tilting her head.

"Yes... We were worried that she may be mad at us."

"Why?"

"Didn't she tell you?"

Marilyn laughed out of habit. She sometimes did that when she was confused. "I'm sorry... I'm lost. What's going on?"

"We haven't heard from Mina in a few weeks now and were starting to get worried... She didn't even call for Christmas! I know that she must have been spending a bit of time with you since... well, you know, dear... you need family to spend Christmas with... We would have gotten you a plane ticket, too, had you two asked! We wouldn't of minded spending Christmas with you, of course. You're also like a daughter to us."

"Wait, slow down..." Marilyn's eyebrows furrowed. "You're telling me... that she wasn't there for Christmas?"

"No, didn't even call! Could you tell her to call us back? We can always get her a new plane ticket to come see us. You're welcome, as well."

"...She didn't even go to the States?!"

There was an unnerving silence over the phone. "Why are you so confused, dear? Haven't you been with her this whole time?"

Her eyes widened. Mina... What was going on?! "Don't worry, Sumi. I'm going to figure things out. I'll call you back, okay? I have your number now."

"What's wrong?" Kwan asked, disliking the fact that his sister's face went from cheery to fearful in minutes. He set down his food and leaned closer to her.

"But wait! Marilyn, what's going on over there?!" the mother's voice asked, worried.

"I promise I'll call you back!" Marilyn exclaimed, jumping up from the couch and hanging up. Without another word, Marilee bolted for the coat rack, put on her shoes and a winter coat, and walked out the door.

"WAIT!" Kwan shouted, jogging to catch up with the girl. Once at her fast-paced side, he asked, "Yah! What's going on?!"

"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! Mina's mom called and said that she didn't come to America for the holidays and that she didn't even call for Christmas and that-!"

"Slow down! What?!"

"I don't know! Are you sure that there wasn't anyone in the apartment? Or at the store?"

"Not when we checked," Kwan replied tensely. "It seemed pretty dark whenever we've been by."

It only made Marilyn take off faster towards her old complex building. Unsure with how to handle everything, and since Kwan was at such a loss for words, she called the only person she could think of in sticky situations: Umma.

"Umma?!" Marilyn asked right when she heard the ringing stop.

"...Tink? Eh, Umma's in the shower at the moment and I accidentally took his phone instead of mine when I went out to get ice cream. Want some?"

"Peter!" she cried out, happy to hear such a sweet voice. However, he still knew next to nothing about everything that had been happening... How could Taemin help? Nonetheless, he was her security. His voice made her take in a few deep breaths and try to pace herself as they walked.

"What's wrong?!" he asked worriedly, disliking the tone in her voice. He stopped in his tracks.

"...Sangdungi might be missing and I don't know what to do," Marilee finally admitted, earning a comforting shoulder rub from Kwan.

"What?! Are you sure?" Taemin wanted to ask her why she called Key first instead of him in such a situation, but he pushed it to the back of his head for time being. "What are you doing now?"

"Heading over to the apartments with Kwan. I don't know what's going on, but I don't like it!"

"I'll come help. Jonghyun, Onew, and Minho took the car when they went to a filming, but they should be back pretty soon. We'll come and help, okay?"

"'Kay..."

"Call me back quickly, okay? I'll call when the car's back."

Marilee could barely say goodbye. Not too far up ahead was the building she and Mina stayed at for about a year now. There had to be something in there to help figure things out, right?

"COME ON!" she yelled in her soprano voice towards Kwan before kicking her running into high-gear. Marilyn wasn't really a runner, but at that time, she felt like she could run to the moon and back.

Kwan, however, still remained to be his unathletic self.

"WAIT UP! HEY, YOU STUPID SISTER! NOT EVERYONE CAN RUN LIKE THE ROADRUNNER WHEN THINGS GET TOUGH! Aish... Fine, I'll meet up with you after I talk to the neighbors!"

While Marilyn and Kwan finally reached the building (almost) together, Taemin was worrying on his own halfway across the huge city. How didn't Lee Lee know about her disappearance if she had been living with her? Or was the being missing part very recent? Whatever the case, he wanted to help out in any way he could. Mina seemed like a nice girl and if she was really missing, she needed to be found as soon as possible...

Figuring that they needed the car as soon as possible, and not wanting to tell Minho himself that the girl he had a thing for was gone just yet, he dialed up the first number on Key's phone.

"Hello, baby," Jonghyun's voice cackled slightly on the other end. Sighing, the power vocalist continued, "Ah, what's up? We're heading home as we speak. Did you miss me that much?"

"Hyung! Lee Lee said that Mina might be missing."

"Taeminnie? What?!"

"Just get home soon! We need to help out!"

"Yeah... Ah, yeah, we'll be home in another fifteen minutes, alright? We'll try driving as fast as we can. I'll tell the others about it."

Taemin hung up and started to head back to the SHINee apartment to tell Key, as well. However, before he could cross the street towards the building, he noticed that a figure had been following him for the last couple blocks. It forced him to stop. Originally, he had ignored it thinking that it was merely another fan stalking him for pictures. Now, though...

Taemin spun around and was greeted by a face that he barely knew. Something about it was vaguely familiar, but he couldn't place a name with the face. He was a pretty good looking guy with nice muscles, though, which made Taemin wonder if he was perhaps an older trainee for another company.

"Hello?" he finally timidly asked, blinking at the new figure.

"Taemin, right?" the man walked forward with a sickly strange smile on his face. "My name is Seung and I have a couple things that I needed to talk to you about. Do you mind?"





Nothing made sense. If Mina never left Korea, why was she at the airport when she called a few weeks ago? She gave Marilyn a month to get out of the apartment... For the short time that Marilyn had stayed at the apartment after that, Mina had never returned home. Where else could she be except for America?

While searching at the apartment, Marilee attempted to call all the friends she could think of that could possibly know Mina's whereabouts. Sadly, each person she got a hold of knew nothing. Many said that they hadn't heard from her in awhile. More claimed that she told them that she'd be spending her vacation in America with her family. All were clueless.

"MINA?!" Marilyn called through the apartment for the last time. No one answered back. The place was dark and empty, and judging from the fridge and beds, no one had been in there for awhile.

Kwan walked into the apartment with heavy footsteps. Clearing his throat, he announced, "The neighbors all say that they thought you two moved out awhile ago. They haven't seen anyone go towards this floor for a long time."

Marilyn let out a frustrated shriek and tugged at her long hair after running both hands through it. Where was Mina, then?!

"Let's try figuring things out. Ehh... Alright. The last you heard from her?"

"Back when she told me she wanted nothing to do with me... That was before Christmas."

He nodded, rubbing his chin. "And anything else weird about that intense convo?"

"Seung, obviously! Why did he suddenly show up at the airport to talk to her?! I mean-!" she stopped, eyes widening as her hands fell to her sides. That's right. Seung... Why was he there in the first place? She remembered Mina mentioned something about naked pictures and... There was something really weird about that whole event. What really happened? What exactly did that guy say?

Or was it that he acted more than said anything at that time? Heart dropping, she turned to Kwan and asked with saucer-like eyes, "You don't think-?"

"Seung?" he spat out the name, gazing down at his hurt arm. "With that freak, honestly? No way in hell would it surprise me."

"He better not have!" Marilyn growled while lowering her eyes into intense slits. Not wanting to waste any more time, she darted out of the apartment with Kwan at her heels. They still had one more place to check. She couldn't be anywhere else but there if things were alright. If she wasn't there... Well, they'd have to start taking drastic measures.

Something wasn't right. Something made both of them shiver and feel their stomachs drop. Hopefully things weren't as bad as they imagined.

"We'll find her," Kwan comforted her as they ran, hoping to calm down her nerves even though his weren't any better. He felt his arm ache warningly.

If Seung was involved with all of this, it couldn't of been good.





"She's mine. Don't you see? She just wanted to keep you because you're cute and famous. In reality, Marilyn belongs to me. We've been going out ever since the beginning of her career back at Pulse. It's pretty serious."

"...She's never mentioned you, though," Taemin replied innocently. Lee Lee... was going out with this guy? Couldn't be... Not after all that they had!

The man laughed and leaned against the nearby building's brick wall. "Of course not. Why would she bring up one affair to another?! Sounds pretty stupid to me."

Taemin scrunched up his brows, trying to make sense of the situation. Why would she be going out with this guy? The connection he felt with Marilee was always so intense and special... That was real, right? Wasn't all that they had truly real? Why was this guy randomly showing up like this? Nothing was clicking. Although his heart ached from the possibility, his head was telling him to not go down the road of sadness and deceit just yet.

"I just... Are you sure it's my Lee Lee?"

"Your-?!" Seung's voice went extremely serious and angry quickly as he pushed himself off of the wall and walked up to the SHINee maknae. His eyes glared for awhile before he caught himself and calmed down just as quickly. Still trying to keep his cool, Seung dug into his pocket and pulled out a black cell phone. As he turned away and scrolled through it, Seung exclaimed, "Oh, don't believe me? Fine. Don't. But if this doesn't convince you..." At that, Seung shoved the phone in front of Taemin's face.

Taemin choked. The fairly innocent boy was greeted with parts of Marilyn that he still hadn't seen himself yet, automatically making him fall down and go deeply crimson. His hands flew up over his hot face. She was completely nude in the revealed picture and was looking innocently away from the camera...

More importantly than her body, he realized after cooling down, was the fact that he even had a picture of her naked... How? It wasn't a selca. In fact, she looked rather unaware of anything. Taemin felt fire bubble in his heart. Something was up.

"You haven't even seen her naked yet, right? I have many times... Is that proof enough?" Seung asked.

Taemin gazed upward at the man. This couldn't be real... That girl in the picture couldn't be her. "I-"

"You don't have to even speak. Listen to me. Don't you ever get together with Lee Lee again, got it? You'll be sorry if you do... She's mine and mine alone. Why would she even need another man in her life?"

It felt like Taeminnie's heart was being stabbed. How could another man have seen her like this?! He wanted to protect her more than anything. If he could jump into that phone and cover her up with a blanket, he would. That was the thing... Instead of being angry at her, something about this whole situation seemed off. There was something tugging at his other heartstrings. Something told him that this wasn't right.

"...I don't know what to think. I want to talk to Lee Lee first. The Lee Lee I know... Eh, she wouldn't do something like this! Ever!"

"That's what she wants you to think, idiot. In reality, she does this all the time! Trust me."

Taemin pouted and crossed his arms stubbornly. "No. I don't want to believe anything until I talk to Lee Lee! If this is real... No. Something's-! AHHH! I don't know!" He felt his blood boiling. Something wasn't right! And this man... This man-! Taemin never felt so angry in his life. His arm muscles flexed instinctively as he glared at the phone that he wanted so deeply to be smashed to pieces. Starting to stand up and changing his glare towards the man, he exclaimed, "You don't deserve Lee Lee! We'll figure something out! YOU! If I find out that you got those pictures without her knowing about it, I'll... I'll-!"

"You'll what?! Beat me up?!" Seung shouted while laughing, looming over Taemin, causing him to lose his footing and fall over again. "Kill me?! I'd like to see you try!"

"YAH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SON!?" Key's voice shouted from the SHINee building's entrance, causing Seung to quickly look in his direction. Just as Key started to run towards the two, Seung gave one more look at the younger boy and took off into a random alleyway, out of sight.

Taemin clenched his teeth together. All of his confused emotions made him feel near insane. Couldn't he chase after him and punch him? Maybe break his phone and then his face? He'd never felt so violent before.

"Who was that?!" Key asked wildly, panting as he finally skidded to a halt next to his son. He bent down beside the boy in one fluid movement and motherly held Taemin's face between his hands. "Did he hurt you?!"

"...Not physically," Taemin grumbled, banging both of his fists against the concrete beneath him. "I fell over. I want to hurt him, though."

Key sighed and helped him up. "Answer my first question. Who was that?! Some psychotic paparazzi or something?"

"I don't know what he is! He said his name was Seung and that's just about it!"

The diva tensed. "...Seung?"

Taemin nodded, starting to calm down at the sight of Key's sudden serious face. Did Key know something that he didn't?

Key cursed and took off towards the alleyway, causing Taemin to momentarily forget his own anger and tilt his head to where Key took off. Key tried to go down the whole length of the alleyway in search of the insane man, but unfortunately, Seung was gone. Key had wasted too much time when he first got to the scene. But what could he do?! Taemin had been on the ground... Cursing again, Key kicked at one of the metal gates in the alley before he miserably walked back to Taemin's side.

"What's wrong?!"

"...What happened, Taeminnie? What did that son-of-a-bitch tell you?"





Marilee continuously tried to open the shop's doors, but they were locked. Flowers inside wilted and died slowly, which wasn't something Mina would ever allow. Dust covered bits and pieces of the visible surfaces and, like the apartment, it was very dark and dreary. She didn't like this one bit. Nonetheless, she refused to give up. There had to be a happy outcome after this.

"MINA!" Marilyn shouted again, just in case she could be in the cellars or something. Not hearing anything, she started up her excessive banging.

Kwan pushed back his hair with a prolonged sigh, equally frustrated but able to take view of the situation a bit more than her. "Just stop already, Lee Lee. Even if you were strong, you wouldn't be able to break those doors open. Damn, I admire your persistence, but this is starting to get ridiculous."

She huffed and tried again, but of course, they remained locked. Marilee knocked at the doors repeatedly, hating herself for not making another set of the shop's keys like Mina had told her to months ago. With one more loud knock, the girl slid down against the glass and set her forehead against the door. All she was doing was drawing attention to herself from other pedestrians. She had to cool herself down.

"I can't break the glass, can I?" she asked quietly.

"Aigoo," the other sighed, crouching down beside her. "We'll find her, Lee Lee. Don't worry. I'll call Hyun-Ki and have him help us out too, okay? We'll head over to some other places to see if anyone's seen her lately. We gotta keep our cool. It's all we have, our coolness."

"So is that a no?"

"No. You know that Mina would kill you for breaking down her shop. We need it in shape for when she gets back, right?"

Marilyn lifted her head to look up at Kwon. In turn, despite how worried he was himself, he gave her a big goofy grin, causing her to slightly smile back. He was right. Marilee couldn't let her light dim down so easily. It should burn even more while being on the search for her twin.

The deejay gave her his hand and helped her up from the ground. After dusting herself off, she grudgingly started to leave the place beside her brother. Looked like they needed more help than they originally planned...

"Call that boy of yours. He's probably worried, too. We'll find a place to meet up with him. The more help, the better, yeah?" Kwan exclaimed, reaching for his own phone to use for calling Hyun-Ki. They weren't going to go down without a fight.





"That son-of-a-bitch," Key repeated, eyes as deadly as daggers. Not only was he harassing his daughter, but his son now, too?! AND he dared to have naked pictures of his daughter?! What kind of sick psycho was this man? "He's going down... and he's going down hard. Just you watch. Umma's going to shove his face so hard into the ground, he'll reach the gates of hell in seconds."

"So... he was lying, right? Please tell me he was lying, Umma... Please."

"Trust me. He is..." Key sighed and looked away as he ran a hand through his hair. All he wanted was for everyone to be happy. Sadly, everything was quickly turning in the opposite direction. Why couldn't life have steady, happy roads instead of ones like roller coasters? "You two are going to have to talk seriously as soon as possible. No more secrets."

"Secrets? So she has been keeping something from me?" Taemin asked, hurt crossing his features. Didn't she trust him? Rely on him? He felt so blind. He should've known that there was something bad happening in her life even without her telling him. His childish innocence seemed to have gotten in the way of that.

"She thought it was for the best, Taeminnie. She didn't want to hurt you. Looks like it can't be avoided any longer, though..."

"I don't want Lee Lee or anyone else to keep secret anymore. You guys knew something, right? I'm her boyfriend, Umma! I deserve to know!"

Key pursed his lips and nodded. "I know. I'm sorry that things had to happen this way. Let's focus on the really important things right now, though, shall we? Once the car comes, we'll call Lee Lee and find out where she is so we can pick her up and come up with a game plan in finding Mina. The police station sounds like will be our first stop. We need to convince doll-face to tell them our little secrets, as well."

Before Key could finish, as if on cue, their car suddenly stopped in front of them. Just as quickly, the doors flew open to show three worried boys in the backseat. No one said another word. Instead, the remaining two quickly got into the car and took off once more. Finally inside, Taemin switched phones with Key before he forgot.

"I know you're forgetful, Taeminnie, but how do you confuse a red phone for a blue one? Aigoo..." Key exclaimed, shaking his head as he returned his own phone to his pocket. "At least it isn't lost."

Surprisingly, Taemin's phone started to ring before he could copy Key in pocketing it away. "Tink?" he asked without really looking at the caller ID.

"Mina's not anywhere..." her sad voice replied back, pushing away all suspicions from earlier. All he could focus on was her and her sadness.

"Is it her?" Onew asked. "Tell her that I know people that can help if things don't turn out."

Taemin nodded. In his kind voice, he replied, "We'll help you look. But Lee Lee... we need to talk, okay?"

"Huh?"

"About... about everything. I know some things now that you've been hiding from me."

He could hear Marilyn take in a sharp breath.

"Things?"

"About some weird guy..."

The breath turned into a sigh. "That... How did-?!"

"I'll explain it later. Just promise me, please?"

"...I promise I will. I'll tell you everything, 'kay? I... shouldn't have kept this from you. I've just been scared," she admitted in a small voice.

His heart ached slightly at the thought of whatever her secret could be. Nonetheless, he gulped and asked, "Where are you now? We'll pick you up."

"Kwan and I are walking on that walk path beside that one road behind the shop. Do you know which one I'm talking about?"

Minho nodded at the phone, being that Taemin switched her onto speaker phone. "I run there often. We'll be there soon, little one."

"'Kay, thank you... Er, Peter, I-."

The girl's voice suddenly stopped. However, not much longer after, other voices started to blare up from the other end. It made the five boys lean in closer towards the phone in hopes of catching what was going on. All of the voices were faint and different, and for some reason, Lee Lee wasn't continuing her conversation because of them.

"Hello? Tink? Are we losing signal or something?" Taemin looked at the phone's screen to check his own signal, but saw it to be just fine on his end.

Jonghyun laughed, but couldn't hide the nervousness in it. "Hey, Lee Lee! Answer us already, geez!"

The voices weren't very clear, but it was obvious that there was shouting. One voice, the closest sounding male, sounded like it could possibly be an angry Kwan. They started to hear Marilyn's cute little voice grow serious and frantic, making them lean even more cautiously towards the phone as they tried to make out any possible words.

Taemin's teeth grazed his lip. Something was going on over there. It made him wish that she had video called him instead. The boy cleared his throat.

"Hel-?"

Bang.

All five's eyes widened. They looked up at each other before darting towards the phone Taemin had accidentally dropped from the sudden sound. Something felt very, very wrong.

After frantically scrambling for the phone again, Taeminnie finaly grasped the device and brought it closer to him. "Hello? TINK?! HELLO?!"

Her high-pitched screams were all they were greeted with. It was a sharp, piercing violin solo against the silence of an orchestra.

"LEE LEE!" they all shouted, fear pulsating through their bodies. Their hearts dropped to their stomachs, the unknown terrifying them.

"DRIVER! FASTER!" Key choked out loudly, hitting the seat with all his might as if it'd help the process.

"What the hell is going on?!" Onew asked aloud, the leader's face aging with fear. He tried to keep composure for his team but... even he was scared.

"TINK! ANSWER ME, PLEASE!" Taemin shouted, feeling hot tears streak down his face at the sound of her crying. Why weren't they going any faster?! Why wasn't he there to protect her?! He sobbed, "T-TINKERBELL!"

"YOU BETTER ANSWER YOUR UMMA RIGHT NOW, YOUNG LADY!" Key yelled through his own tears, clenching his fists. The other three were too stunned to react. What was happening?!

Marilyn was still screaming and crying, but they could tell by the sudden crash that the phone wasn't in her hands any longer. Some scuffling, uncomprehending words, and finally...

"K-KWAN! PETER! PETER-!"

Bang.

The last they heard was one long shriek, clanking, and something like a car speeding away.

"T-Tink?! NO! TINK, NO!" The boy started to hyperventilate, shaking like crazy as he continued to pointlessly shout at the phone.

"STOP THE CAR!" Minho suddenly shouted, sick of the traffic that Seoul always had. Even before the car came to a complete stop, the athlete shot out of the car towards where Lee Lee had mentioned she'd be. He knew he could be faster than the car at this rate.

Taemin took off right after him. The adrenaline caused the boy to become significantly faster despite his shortness in breath. Minho's own adrenaline still forced him to be ahead, but Taemin was easily on his trail.

They darted through alleyways and over a low fence before finally reaching the back roads. From there, they ran in the direction that would eventually take them to the back of Mina's flower shop...

...and didn't have to run very far. A large crowd had started to form around something that looked like a body crumpled in a bloody heap on the ground. It made their hearts stop before snapping and racing on high gear. They took off even faster towards the people and what looked like to be a body.

Panting, they reached the crowd and started to shove people aside roughly before reaching the bloody mess with dread. The other three reached them about a minute later after telling their car to meet them there. SHINee's presence only made the murmuring louder. What were idols doing at the scene of a horrid crime?

They looked down at the ground, feeling sick as they did so.

A normally cheery face was oddly solemn and silent. Blood pooled beneath the figure in a wide radius, seeping from a wound both in the abdomen and head.

Silent, pale, lifeless...

The boys were too shocked and shaken to speak. Many in the Seoul crowd had already called the officials before they had arrived, although Onew added to one of the many calls just to be safe. Unlike some places, Korea's force was always speedy. The ambulance and police were there as Onew was still on the phone.

Unfortunately, there was nothing the ambulance could do with someone who was already long dead.

"Do you know the victim?" a police man finally asked the depressed idol group, looking at Onew first.

"Ah... I don't know a last name. Kwan... he, um, he worked at Pulse..."