Cherem - Chapter 3
Title: Cherem
Chapter: 3/?
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy, AU
Characters: Taemin (SHINee), Hyunjoong (SS501), the rest of SHINee, SS501 and other cameos
Pairing(s): TBA
Warning: Rating will go up in later chapters
Summary: When Lee Taemin gets deported down from his comfortable position in the weather division to a strange division known only to most as ‘the Store’, he gets tangled up in the stuff that should stay safely in his daydreams. Three difficult house-spirits, plenty of strange, needy customers, one clumsy but strangely mysterious store-keeper, and one particularly curious customer who seems to keep coming back only when Taemin is around.
It’s all fun, but wishes are desires are dangerous things. And soon, Taemin begins to wonder if he’s biting off more than he can chew…
[A/N: So sorry this chapter took so long to come up, but it was madness Christmas rush, then post holiday travelling and then the start of school. Things seemed to have settled down a bit so the updates will be back!]
~*~
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~*~
Hyunjoong was true to his word, Taemin was put to work the very next day.
He had woken up, blurry, and wondering where he was, since his bed wasn’t made out of rich silks and soft pillows, nor did his room have a shy, rather cute guy standing in the corner, needing him to wake up, but too nervous to actually step forward to do the deed.
And then his brain had helpfully supplied: Wait. What?
So it was in that manner he was woken up and told that they were half and hour behind schedule. Taemin sighed, following Onew after barely washing his face and brushing his teeth. He normally wasn’t this courteous, but there was something about Onew that made Taemin feel bad the moment he did something which made Onew uncomfortable.
Like now. Taemin observed from the side of his eye that Onew wanted to say something, but didn’t quite dare. He sighed, “I’m not going to bite. You can just ask me what you want.”
“U-uh.” Onew had the grace to look embarrassed. Taemin gathered that Onew knew his own shortcomings (all too much) and didn’t know exactly how to overcome them. “Well, we’re just going to do some book-keeping today. We’re going to the library… and so… well. Just do what I do. We’ll eat breakfast there, Key cooked it and… um… I’ll sure it’ll be good. And… please look after me!”
Taemin blinked, nearly stumbling over himself to stop himself in time as Onew suddenly swung round and bowed at him. Taken aback, he quickly held up his hands in alarm. “Ack! Why are you bowing? Get up!”
In a show of flustered action not usual of him (Taemin seemed to be doing a lot of unusual things here), Taemin reached out and grabbed Onew’s arms, forcing him back up. He quirked an eyebrow and let out a rueful sigh at Onew’s look of surprise. “Hey. For one thing, it should be me asking you to look after me. And seriously, no bowing to me. I’m not important or powerful or anything like that. So, that’s just really weird.”
Onew blinked at him, his jaw dropping open in confusion. “Wait, you aren’t… but… then… Hyunjoong…” He trailed off, eyes sinking deep into thought.
Now, Taemin was curious. “What about Hyunjoong?”
“Eh?” Onew looked up, nervous smile back in place, although Taemin could see the effort it took to put it there. “It’s nothing. Anyway, look, the library’s just here!”
Any protest that Taemin could have said was swept away as Onew tugged him into the room. And then, anything he could have said was knocked out of his mind once he saw what Onew described then as: “It’s nothing much. Just a small library. Most of it are records, but a few store-keepers have contributed to its literature floor. In fact, Hyunjoong contributed to that the most.”
Taemin would have described it as the biggest, huge-ass library he’d ever seen, and that was saying something since he was pretty well-traveled as the youngest, and thus errand runner for the weather department.
While Taemin stared, bug-eyed and mouth open, at the sheer size of it all, Onew wheeled over a stack of books over to one of the nearby tables, smiling expectantly at Taemin. “Well, there’s a lot of work to do. So, the faster we do this, the faster we can go for lunch.”
Taemin wordlessly moved over, still preoccupied about size, and sat himself down into one of the oak-brown chairs. He blinked, surprised as he sunk into it, and realized the cushion he was sitting on was eons old - made comfortable by time and pressure. An antique, he realized, the design a tasteful Victorian. As was the rest of the décor in the room - from the furniture to the trimmings. But he couldn’t spend much time admiring the richness of his surroundings because Taemin began to instruct him then.
“Okay, so basically, we have to key in all these books into this laptop here.” Onew gestured to a bright yellow laptop. The technology looked entirely out of place amongst so many old things. “It’s pretty standard stuff. Just look at the bar code, and then type it into the excel sheet and…”
Taemin tuned off then. It sounded exactly like the things he used to do whenever he was “lent” to the archiving department (and that was pretty often). But he decided not to tell Onew just that - he told himself that he didn’t want to embarrass Onew, because the guy would most likely blame himself for not thinking that Taemin knew about such things (which was ridiculous, but then this was Onew as far as Taemin had gathered). But really, it was because the more Onew talked, the longer it would take for the already tedious-seeming task to start.
Instead, he turned his attention to the book in his hands and flipped at it randomly, his eyes falling to a paragraph which was printed on the page open:
However, I am regretful to say that I have failed to grant her wish. I do not know what went wrong, only that one minute I was in the middle of the usual procedures when it blew up in my face. Or at least I think it did. Everything went white, and by the time I woke up, she was gone.
Then, to my horror of horrors, I found out, a few days later, what exactly had happened to her-
“Any questions?” Taemin was jolted out of inattention by Onew’s cheerful tone. He blinked before shaking his head.
“Alright, then! Let’s get started! You read, I type.” Taemin stared at the book Onew handed him and restrained a sight.
Oh well.
“12.3592 - record by the fourth Keeper of the Store, book number 5…”
~*~
Key came in half an hour later to serve them breakfast, but after that, there was no other activity other than their munching of delicious pancakes amidst making the records. And even the munching stopped when the pancakes were gone, and all that was left was the dry job which Taemin was beginning to get bored of.
It must have showed on Taemin’s face, or in his voice or something, because after he’d read one series of numbers too many, Onew’s hands stilled from their typing and he looked up at Taemin with surprisingly astute eyes.
“Let’s take a break.” Onew smiled at Taemin’s token sound of protest, waving it off. “I think you need it. And I need to check on something anyway.”
Taemin had the sense to show a little of the sheepishness he was feeling, and Onew seemed to appreciate it, smiling the warmest smile Taemin had seen of the nervous house-spirit the whole morning. And after a few token phrases, Onew set off for whatever thing he needed to do, while Taemin leaned back and let out a sigh which reverberated in echo around the high ceiling before being muted by the soft, plush carpet.
Looking down, Taemin tilted his head for a moment, before he shrugged and kicked off his shoes, planting his feet happily into the threads of the carpet with a happy sigh. He’d been waiting to do this the whole morning.
He stayed like that for a while, feet immersed in the sea of plush red thread before he became bored with just sitting. Looking around, and deciding that Onew would take at least a little while more before coming back, Taemin got up from his chair and stretched, legs aimlessly directing him towards one of the shelves.
His eyes roved over the rows of similar books of similar red bindings with gold plate. It seemed Onew was right - most of these were records. Sighing, Taemin slowly moved away, looking on at the next shelf. More records. And more, and more and more.
But Onew had said something about some floors being filled with literature - books which Taemin presumed would have more interest to him now than the records. Sure, from the fleeting glimpse of what he read earlier, it did seem like the records weren’t all that boring, but Taemin just didn’t want to hold any more red-bound books until he had to.
There was something in the back of his mind - warning bells telling Taemin to think twice about what he was doing. It had been a while since Onew had gone, and Taemin probably shouldn’t be wandering so far least he’d be given a lecture. Well, maybe not a lecture, since this was Onew - maybe a worried look that would tug on his heart strings into apologizing in guilt. But there were also warning bells not so practical - bells that rang of a thought steeped more in paranoia. That this place was not all it seemed - for a place which granted wishes could not be so innocent. And maybe it was that that kept Taemin walking on - defiant. Purposely ignoring what he thought were silly anxieties and superstition.
He didn’t know for how long he walked, and the air seemed to get chillier with each step - but then again, it was normal with libraries such as these. Heat wasn’t welcome because books were delicate things. And it was just their nature, spindly wood and drafty winds whistling through the shelves at every chance. Besides, Taemin didn’t really mind the cold - he was born in it after all.
His mind had drifted, and it took him a while to realize that the books on the shelf he had glanced at were no longer uniform and red, but were of varied colours, sizes and titles. And in glee, he reached out and pulled down the book nearest to him, flipping it open before putting it back and pulling out another one. He didn’t know why he was doing this; just that it was fun, and it caused him inexplicable joy.
He lost track of all time, just reading, and then laughing at how Great Expectations was placed beside Inferno (oh the irony of that). He forgot all about Onew, and work, and the outside world, and the fact that he shouldn’t really be enjoying books that much.
He hadn’t even realized how cold it had gotten, or that his hands were shivering from it. Or that a certain gloom had settled over his shoulder, perched, and refusing to let go, even as Taemin’s hands grew tired, and he kept pulling out book after book. And then he fell to the floor, hands still moving in that motion. Book after book after book after book after…
“Get away from him!”
It was as if a weight had suddenly lifted off him, and Taemin gasped, eyes widening in shock and fear as he felt cold that chilled to his bones, and knew that he was shivering, teeth chattering, and quickly curled up for warmth.
He breathed deeply, clutching his heart as he watched Key, rush forward, broom menacing in his hand, swiping at what looked like… mist. No… it was a figure made out of mist, a girl? Long hair… white clothes… features… but he couldn’t make them out, because Key had successfully chased whatever it was away.
“You...” Taemin realized that the address and the scowl that came with it was indeed meant for him - but of course, there was no one else around (or at least Taemin hoped). “…are way too much trouble. Why did you wonder off?”
“I’m sorry.” Taemin mumbled. It was no use arguing - Taemin knew when to admit that he was in the wrong. And this was a time when it was clearly, entirely his fault. “Thanks.”
The irritation seemed to seep out of Key a little, but the gruffness still remained. “Aish… come on, Onew’s panicking his head off. Worried that you’d meet her. Which, now to come to think of it, his worries weren’t so silly after all.”
Taemin ignored the hidden jibe in favour to ask: “Her?”
“The Yurei.” Taemin must have looked confused. “The ghost? You know, the one who possessed you just a few second ago and would have claimed you if I hadn’t come around with my broom.”
“Oh.” Taemin blinked as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. “Oh.”
“Yes, ‘oh’.” Key rolled his eyes, beckoning Taemin to follow. “You’re really lucky you know that? Some customers were in the same predicament as you and well…”
Taemin gulped as he filled in what Key left unsaid. ‘They weren’t so lucky.’
“What is… a Y-yurei? Yurei.” Taemin stumbled over the word. “What’s a Yurei doing here anyway?”
Key paused to stare at Taemin for a moment, as if trying to discern something hidden which Taemin was pretty sure wasn’t there. Then, Key shrugged and brushed the issue off with an “ask Hyunjoong”.
Taemin would have pressed more, but it was then Onew ran up to them, looking nearly green with worry. And with a few clean lies from Key, and Taemin tactfully backing him up, Onew was back to his normal complexion.
They continued their book keeping. Key went off to cook dinner. Things returned to normal.
Or at least until Hyunjoong poked his head in.
~*~
“So, what did you want to ask that you needed me alone?”
Taemin stared at Hyunjoong at the odd way of phrasing those words. Had he? Was that? No… Hyunjoong was too mild a character to say something so saucy.
Still, they were alone in the library. Onew was gone - sent out to do some chore or another by a combination of his and Hyunjoong’s cunning.
Well, okay, fine, it was more of Hyunjoong’s cunning, and his obvious ask of “Hyunjoong can I ask you something?” whilst glancing none-too-conspicuously at Onew.
Hyunjoong had tactfully raised his eyebrow for a split-second, before his expression settled, coolly directing his attention to Onew, as if he suddenly remembered something that needed to be done. Luckily, Onew seemed oblivious to the clumsily executed ploy to get him out of the room, and had gone off cheerfully enough to “please feed the fishes. They’re getting a bit fidgety.”.
“Fishes?” Taemin had asked when Onew was gone to which Hyunjoong waved his hand and confessed an embarrassing fascination with water features.
And that of course had led to the scene of Taemin staring at Hyunjoong and wondering if his temporary employer had just passed an innuendo over him.
“You look rather scandalized.” Hyunjoong said after a length, the beginnings of a smirk on his face.
“Eh? No! I… argh…” Taemin wondered if Hyunjoong commonly made people behave in a way more idiotic than they usually did. He buried his face into his hands for a flustered moment before looking up. “Never mind. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
Taemin tried to ignore the thoughts that the quirked eyebrow was screaming suggestion at him and related the earlier incident to Hyunjoong. “Key said what attacked me was a ‘Yurei’… and he said to ask you what it was doing here.”
For a moment, Taemin wondered if Key had been pulling the wool over his eyes, what with Hyunjoong’s perplexed expression. But then, the confusion cleared, and Hyunjoong let out a sound of understanding. “Oh… her. I’d nearly forgot about her. It’s been a while since she’s come out.”
The way Hyunjoong talked about her was like the reminiscence of an old acquaintance - someone familiar that hadn’t been seen for a while. And Taemin’s curiosity burned yet stronger. “Who is she?”
“Oh… she’s one of the few customers who would contest to the fact that this place can grant the every wish of every person.” Taemin truly wondered how Hyunjoong always managed to say things such serious in such a languid tone. “I guess you could call her an… Onryo. A vengeful ghost.”
“Who does she want to take revenge on?” Taemin found himself asking. Then his brain caught up and he looked at Hyunjoong strangely. Was it…?
“Oh, no. Not me. She was already here long before my time.” Hyunjoong laughed at Taemin’s assumption. “She was here before Onew even, who has been here the longest.”
“What… what was her wish?” Taemin suddenly felt the need to ask, a strange prodding in him, and he felt strange, as if that prodding was not of his own voliation.
“I don’t know.” Hyunjoong shrugged, unknowing. “Well, okay. I do have various versions of the story. Onew says that it was to gain back something she had lost. Key swears that she just wanted to be noticed. Jonghyun hazards its something about love. I’d be more inclined to believe Onew, but he too admitted he had gotten it from someone else, and the story may have been warped over time and memory.”
“Then… because the store-keeper then couldn’t grant her wish, she stayed and preyed on people? What happens when she possesses them?”
“I don’t really know.” Hyunjoong said thoughtfully, “She hasn’t possessed anyone for very long. It was the first thing that I was warned of when I took up the position, and I hazard that those three tell every new store-keeper that comes. Actually, I think they train all store-keepers on how to keep her at bay. In the past, she sometimes preyed on customers that were entertained in the library, but the last time I saw her was 10 years ago. And the three chased her off before she could do any harm.”
“And you haven’t?” Taemin found it hard to believe. He’d given it some thought while doing the mind-numbing book-keeping. The Yurei, whoever she was, was really strong to possess Taemin without him even knowing.
“No.” Hyunjoong replied, giving Taemin a sharp look. “Why? …Did you, get possessed?”
“No!” Taemin’s answer was too quick, and it was all that Hyunjoong needed to guess that Taemin indeed had been possessed. He chuckled, and Taemin looked down, suddenly feeling that maybe the Yurei hadn’t been that strong, he’d just been weak. But Hyunjoong must have understood the look because the next thing he said was.
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s very strong. The fact time I faced off her, Onew had to save me from a falling bookshelf while she kept me immobile.” Hyunjoong rubbed the back of his head. “Ah… old times. Old times.”
That seemed different from the way when Taemin had been attacked. And he told Hyunjoong so.
“She does seem more violent when attacking the store-keeper. There’s many records which tell of one store-keeper being attacked or another. But I haven’t had the time or curiosity to actually trace the history of our residential Yurei.” Hyunjoong tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I should…”
Taemin saw a conversational ender if he ever so one. But it was just as well, because Onew chose that moment to come back, all smiles and reports to a nodding Hyunjoong.
And before Taemin turned back to return to his dry job, he saw the hidden smile on Hyunjoong’s face, and thought that the man was lying.
He actually was psychic.
~*~
That night, nothing else was mentioned by the Yurei. Onew seemed none-the-wiser, Hyunjoong was his usual mild self and Key didn’t even glance at him. Jonghyun, obviously, was oblivious to it all. Dinner was some cod-fish thing which Taemin actually appreciated despite his dislike for cod-fish.
He had been led to his room thereafter, still not getting used to the layout of this humongous place. And Hyunjoong had commended him on the good job well done as reported by Onew. Taemin did think, that some hint or tease may have been dropped as Hyunjoong lingered a little longer as he made his way out. But all Hyunjoong did was to tell Taemin that it would be Onew again to take him on his tasks tomorrow.
It was a clear sign to tell Taemin to forget about the incident. And he thought, yeah, well, okay. This doesn’t concern me. I should and will forget it.
So he did for a while. He wasn’t sleepy yet, and it was too cold for a bath before sleep. But the room didn’t comprise of just four walls and a very luxurious bed - it was meant for living in, and so Taemin explored the rest of its furnishings. The mahogany dressing table revealed essentials such as combs, tissues, ear buds. It also revealed a curling iron and a hell lot of make-up, which Taemin raised two eyebrows to. The cherry wood cupboard yielded more satisfactory results - some ancient looking board games, a deck of poker cards, and a good selection of reading books. The last of which Taemin wriggled his fingers in gleeful delight and pulled off the shelf, almost hungrily devouring them. He had never been so eager to read before.
He spent two hours lost in Oz before proceeding to hell and revealed in its majestic horrors. He walked the faerie path and refused all food offered to him, and followed the boy and his wand and his broom and the battle against ‘He who must not be named’. He went out for walks and danced at balls, and then saw what Katy did, and mourned the lost of his love while the raven cried “Nevermore”.
Then he frowned, having a hazy recollection that although the stack from the cupboard was varied, it had not contained the works of Edgar Allan Poe. And he started, dropping the book in his hands, the thud on carpet resounding dully in the echoey halls of the library.
Taemin stared, shell-shocked at his surroundings, backing up from the shelf he was standing in front of, and yelping when he backed into another. How had he gotten here? What…? When…? He had no recollection whatsoever, only that he had been so absorbed in the tales…
It was the smallest of presences he felt that broke him from his thoughts. So small, and so invisible that Taemin wouldn’t have noticed, he thought, if she hadn’t decided to reveal herself to him.
He stood stock still. Most would have run. Some would have screamed and fainted. And yet some others would have been at a loss of what to do, fear gripping them into indecisiveness and dripping cold with sweat at the realization - like Taemin was now.
He could only watch as the mist slowly materialized into a form, like a cloud being buffeted by the wind, only shape getting more distinct instead of fading. And he held his breath, wondering what monster would be revealed.
But time passed, and Taemin was stunned to find no monster before his eyes - only a girl. A pale, white form of a girl, but a girl nonetheless. She looked like one of the girls in accounting - tall, a little awkward, sweet face that was just a little plum, glasses, shy-wide eyes, tied-back hair and a long fringe that almost obscured all those features away from the world.
“Did you enjoy ol’ Poe?”
Taemin didn’t hear the question at first, his brain having blanked out at the unexpectedness of it all. Then, he spotted the girl waving at him as if to check if he were still functioning, and unthinking, he asked, “I’m sorry?”
The girl smiled, an enchanting smile if he ever saw one, and wondered how she would look like if he could actually see her eyes. “I asked if you enjoyed Poe. He’s a little dry for some, but it’s so horrible, darkly romantic that I couldn’t resist showing you! Did you mind me dragging you all the way out here? I’m so sorry, I should have asked first, but I always get carried away when I’m excited.”
She looked so contrite, Taemin found himself shaking his head, and he was somewhat pleased to see the girl smiling in relief.
“Oh, good… I’m really sorry for the first time. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I haven’t talked with humans so long, I forget that I must accommodate to them more. I promise not to nearly kill you again! Promise…”
Taemin, in his haze, wanted to ask her what she meant, not realizing that he had forgotten about her being a ghost - one that had nearly killed him at that. And he was about to reach out and grab her shoulder, and ask her to tell him everything, when her face turned into a mask of fear, and she shrieked, ducking just as a dagger flew over her head and embedded itself into the ‘Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes’.
“Him again!” The exclaim shook Taemin out of the stupor one got into when your life just flashed in front of you. And Taemin looked up to see the girl slowly dissipating into mist. “Argh… I’m sorry. I should go before I get you into any more trouble.”
It sounded strange - that the girl was the one who nearly had been killed, and yet she was apologizing to him. He wanted to reach out, to call her back and say that, it was okay, she shouldn’t be apologizing. But before he even had gotten his mouth to open and call, “Wait!”, she had already gone.
Then, there was a rough arm beside him, pulling him up, and the next thing he knew there was a hand patting him up and down, checking if he was alright. “Oh, in the name of the sansin, do you actually like getting into trouble? You just couldn’t keep your nose out of the library despite our very obvious warning not to?”
Taemin frowned, and grabbed the hand so that he could stop it shaking him to see who it was. “Key?”
“Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. It’s me. Now, I’m bringing you back to your room, and you’re staying there! Jeez!”
No one really appreciates being scolded and insulted at the same time, least of all Taemin. It was probably why he backed away from Key with quite the fearsome scowl on his face. “No.”
Key looked rather affronted, with the way Taemin was challenging him. As if he couldn’t believe he was hearing this - and if Taemin were a little less incensed, he would have given that it would have been natural for Key to have been. He did think he just saved Taemin’s life and he did tell Taemin this, along with: “What do you mean no, are you nuts? Come on, let’s go before she comes back.”
“What if I want her to come back?” The words were out before Taemin could stop them. He hadn’t meant it to come out that way, but now that they were out, and seeing the righteous way that Key bristled, Taemin knew there would be no taking them back.
“Sure.” Key’s voice was acid defined. “You want her to come back, so that you can have fun with her flinging books at you, and wrapping hands around you, and toppling shelves onto you. Sure, you want her to come back.”
“She’s not like that!” Taemin yelled, his hands clenched into fists.
“Oh, and you would know. Of course you do, you know her really well after, what, meeting her for an oh so long two days.” Key answered, an acerbic eyebrow raising.
The red mists of a thunderstorm at night began to swirl around him, as they did on the rare times he was angry. “Well, you’re not exactly the best of friends with her either. If you at least stopped trying to kill her, maybe you’ll find that she’s different from what you think!” He glared down at Key, who didn’t seem the least perturbed at the sound of thunder reverberating like crazy against the arched walls. Then, spotting the knife which Key had thrown, and reached out to grab it. “And to throw a knife at an unarmed girl-”
“HEY! DON’T-!”
The black sparks that erupted like a small display of lightning caught Taemin of surprise, and he yelped, immediately letting go of the offending knife and prompting falling gracefully onto his butt. Cradling his hand against his chest, he stared up at Key, who was beginning to look a little uncomfortable, as if he knew the next question that would be…
“T-That was… an exorcising knife?!”
A sideways glance. “Yeah. What about it?”
“But…” Taemin’s eyes were wide as he looked Key over. “That stuff is lethal to us, but you aren’t hurt at all…”
Silence. Thinning lips, a pronounced frown. More silence
Taemin stared at Key, at his brown eyes, brown hair. At the knife and back, staring at the increasingly knitted eyebrows. And then, it dawned on him.
“Key… you’re human?” Taemin said with a breathless amount of disbelief.
He was given no answer, but the way Key refused to look at Taemin told him all he needed to know. Except, it wasn’t quite that enough.
“But, you’re older than me.” Taemin shook his head, as if that could help him comprehend what he thought was impossible. But a human? A pure-blooded human? To have been here so many years and be unchanged was close just not possible, and in the Store, where the energy here was so thick, Taemin could cut it with a knife.
Key only seemed annoyed by this, and he stepped past Taemin to grab the knife, scattering torn pieces of paper all around, stowing it away in the fur-rimmed leather jacket that Taemin realized he always seemed to wear. “You should realize that nothing is impossible in a place like this.”
“But how?” Taemin refused to let this matter go. He was tired of being left in the dark - he needed answers. And now.
“I’m not having this conversation with a wet-behind-the-ears, minor weather sprite like you!” Key growled, grabbing Taemin’s collar with a rough hand. “You’re so clueless it’s disgusting.”
“Well, then, enlighten me!” Taemin growled back, his eyes narrowing. Somewhere, a bolt of lightning struck a chair, turning the red wood black.
“If you want to bloody know anything, then go ask Hyunjoong.” Key shoved Taemin backwards. “If anyone needs to answer questions, it’s him!”
“Is that so, then it’s a good thing that I’m here then.”
The calm voice pierced through the tension in the room like a lance into an eye. And Key immediately let go of Taemin, the boy stumbling back until he hit the back of the bookshelf.
Even the pain that shot through his back didn’t stop Taemin from staring at the entirely too mildly smug face that stared back at the two of them.
Hyunjoong titled his head in that (annoying) way of his, and his lips tugged up in what Taemin thought was exaggerated ignorance.
“So… what did you two what to ask me?”
~*~
[ Chapter 4]
Chapter: 3/?
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Fantasy, AU
Characters: Taemin (SHINee), Hyunjoong (SS501), the rest of SHINee, SS501 and other cameos
Pairing(s): TBA
Warning: Rating will go up in later chapters
Summary: When Lee Taemin gets deported down from his comfortable position in the weather division to a strange division known only to most as ‘the Store’, he gets tangled up in the stuff that should stay safely in his daydreams. Three difficult house-spirits, plenty of strange, needy customers, one clumsy but strangely mysterious store-keeper, and one particularly curious customer who seems to keep coming back only when Taemin is around.
It’s all fun, but wishes are desires are dangerous things. And soon, Taemin begins to wonder if he’s biting off more than he can chew…
[A/N: So sorry this chapter took so long to come up, but it was madness Christmas rush, then post holiday travelling and then the start of school. Things seemed to have settled down a bit so the updates will be back!]
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Hyunjoong was true to his word, Taemin was put to work the very next day.
He had woken up, blurry, and wondering where he was, since his bed wasn’t made out of rich silks and soft pillows, nor did his room have a shy, rather cute guy standing in the corner, needing him to wake up, but too nervous to actually step forward to do the deed.
And then his brain had helpfully supplied: Wait. What?
So it was in that manner he was woken up and told that they were half and hour behind schedule. Taemin sighed, following Onew after barely washing his face and brushing his teeth. He normally wasn’t this courteous, but there was something about Onew that made Taemin feel bad the moment he did something which made Onew uncomfortable.
Like now. Taemin observed from the side of his eye that Onew wanted to say something, but didn’t quite dare. He sighed, “I’m not going to bite. You can just ask me what you want.”
“U-uh.” Onew had the grace to look embarrassed. Taemin gathered that Onew knew his own shortcomings (all too much) and didn’t know exactly how to overcome them. “Well, we’re just going to do some book-keeping today. We’re going to the library… and so… well. Just do what I do. We’ll eat breakfast there, Key cooked it and… um… I’ll sure it’ll be good. And… please look after me!”
Taemin blinked, nearly stumbling over himself to stop himself in time as Onew suddenly swung round and bowed at him. Taken aback, he quickly held up his hands in alarm. “Ack! Why are you bowing? Get up!”
In a show of flustered action not usual of him (Taemin seemed to be doing a lot of unusual things here), Taemin reached out and grabbed Onew’s arms, forcing him back up. He quirked an eyebrow and let out a rueful sigh at Onew’s look of surprise. “Hey. For one thing, it should be me asking you to look after me. And seriously, no bowing to me. I’m not important or powerful or anything like that. So, that’s just really weird.”
Onew blinked at him, his jaw dropping open in confusion. “Wait, you aren’t… but… then… Hyunjoong…” He trailed off, eyes sinking deep into thought.
Now, Taemin was curious. “What about Hyunjoong?”
“Eh?” Onew looked up, nervous smile back in place, although Taemin could see the effort it took to put it there. “It’s nothing. Anyway, look, the library’s just here!”
Any protest that Taemin could have said was swept away as Onew tugged him into the room. And then, anything he could have said was knocked out of his mind once he saw what Onew described then as: “It’s nothing much. Just a small library. Most of it are records, but a few store-keepers have contributed to its literature floor. In fact, Hyunjoong contributed to that the most.”
Taemin would have described it as the biggest, huge-ass library he’d ever seen, and that was saying something since he was pretty well-traveled as the youngest, and thus errand runner for the weather department.
While Taemin stared, bug-eyed and mouth open, at the sheer size of it all, Onew wheeled over a stack of books over to one of the nearby tables, smiling expectantly at Taemin. “Well, there’s a lot of work to do. So, the faster we do this, the faster we can go for lunch.”
Taemin wordlessly moved over, still preoccupied about size, and sat himself down into one of the oak-brown chairs. He blinked, surprised as he sunk into it, and realized the cushion he was sitting on was eons old - made comfortable by time and pressure. An antique, he realized, the design a tasteful Victorian. As was the rest of the décor in the room - from the furniture to the trimmings. But he couldn’t spend much time admiring the richness of his surroundings because Taemin began to instruct him then.
“Okay, so basically, we have to key in all these books into this laptop here.” Onew gestured to a bright yellow laptop. The technology looked entirely out of place amongst so many old things. “It’s pretty standard stuff. Just look at the bar code, and then type it into the excel sheet and…”
Taemin tuned off then. It sounded exactly like the things he used to do whenever he was “lent” to the archiving department (and that was pretty often). But he decided not to tell Onew just that - he told himself that he didn’t want to embarrass Onew, because the guy would most likely blame himself for not thinking that Taemin knew about such things (which was ridiculous, but then this was Onew as far as Taemin had gathered). But really, it was because the more Onew talked, the longer it would take for the already tedious-seeming task to start.
Instead, he turned his attention to the book in his hands and flipped at it randomly, his eyes falling to a paragraph which was printed on the page open:
However, I am regretful to say that I have failed to grant her wish. I do not know what went wrong, only that one minute I was in the middle of the usual procedures when it blew up in my face. Or at least I think it did. Everything went white, and by the time I woke up, she was gone.
Then, to my horror of horrors, I found out, a few days later, what exactly had happened to her-
“Any questions?” Taemin was jolted out of inattention by Onew’s cheerful tone. He blinked before shaking his head.
“Alright, then! Let’s get started! You read, I type.” Taemin stared at the book Onew handed him and restrained a sight.
Oh well.
“12.3592 - record by the fourth Keeper of the Store, book number 5…”
~*~
Key came in half an hour later to serve them breakfast, but after that, there was no other activity other than their munching of delicious pancakes amidst making the records. And even the munching stopped when the pancakes were gone, and all that was left was the dry job which Taemin was beginning to get bored of.
It must have showed on Taemin’s face, or in his voice or something, because after he’d read one series of numbers too many, Onew’s hands stilled from their typing and he looked up at Taemin with surprisingly astute eyes.
“Let’s take a break.” Onew smiled at Taemin’s token sound of protest, waving it off. “I think you need it. And I need to check on something anyway.”
Taemin had the sense to show a little of the sheepishness he was feeling, and Onew seemed to appreciate it, smiling the warmest smile Taemin had seen of the nervous house-spirit the whole morning. And after a few token phrases, Onew set off for whatever thing he needed to do, while Taemin leaned back and let out a sigh which reverberated in echo around the high ceiling before being muted by the soft, plush carpet.
Looking down, Taemin tilted his head for a moment, before he shrugged and kicked off his shoes, planting his feet happily into the threads of the carpet with a happy sigh. He’d been waiting to do this the whole morning.
He stayed like that for a while, feet immersed in the sea of plush red thread before he became bored with just sitting. Looking around, and deciding that Onew would take at least a little while more before coming back, Taemin got up from his chair and stretched, legs aimlessly directing him towards one of the shelves.
His eyes roved over the rows of similar books of similar red bindings with gold plate. It seemed Onew was right - most of these were records. Sighing, Taemin slowly moved away, looking on at the next shelf. More records. And more, and more and more.
But Onew had said something about some floors being filled with literature - books which Taemin presumed would have more interest to him now than the records. Sure, from the fleeting glimpse of what he read earlier, it did seem like the records weren’t all that boring, but Taemin just didn’t want to hold any more red-bound books until he had to.
There was something in the back of his mind - warning bells telling Taemin to think twice about what he was doing. It had been a while since Onew had gone, and Taemin probably shouldn’t be wandering so far least he’d be given a lecture. Well, maybe not a lecture, since this was Onew - maybe a worried look that would tug on his heart strings into apologizing in guilt. But there were also warning bells not so practical - bells that rang of a thought steeped more in paranoia. That this place was not all it seemed - for a place which granted wishes could not be so innocent. And maybe it was that that kept Taemin walking on - defiant. Purposely ignoring what he thought were silly anxieties and superstition.
He didn’t know for how long he walked, and the air seemed to get chillier with each step - but then again, it was normal with libraries such as these. Heat wasn’t welcome because books were delicate things. And it was just their nature, spindly wood and drafty winds whistling through the shelves at every chance. Besides, Taemin didn’t really mind the cold - he was born in it after all.
His mind had drifted, and it took him a while to realize that the books on the shelf he had glanced at were no longer uniform and red, but were of varied colours, sizes and titles. And in glee, he reached out and pulled down the book nearest to him, flipping it open before putting it back and pulling out another one. He didn’t know why he was doing this; just that it was fun, and it caused him inexplicable joy.
He lost track of all time, just reading, and then laughing at how Great Expectations was placed beside Inferno (oh the irony of that). He forgot all about Onew, and work, and the outside world, and the fact that he shouldn’t really be enjoying books that much.
He hadn’t even realized how cold it had gotten, or that his hands were shivering from it. Or that a certain gloom had settled over his shoulder, perched, and refusing to let go, even as Taemin’s hands grew tired, and he kept pulling out book after book. And then he fell to the floor, hands still moving in that motion. Book after book after book after book after…
“Get away from him!”
It was as if a weight had suddenly lifted off him, and Taemin gasped, eyes widening in shock and fear as he felt cold that chilled to his bones, and knew that he was shivering, teeth chattering, and quickly curled up for warmth.
He breathed deeply, clutching his heart as he watched Key, rush forward, broom menacing in his hand, swiping at what looked like… mist. No… it was a figure made out of mist, a girl? Long hair… white clothes… features… but he couldn’t make them out, because Key had successfully chased whatever it was away.
“You...” Taemin realized that the address and the scowl that came with it was indeed meant for him - but of course, there was no one else around (or at least Taemin hoped). “…are way too much trouble. Why did you wonder off?”
“I’m sorry.” Taemin mumbled. It was no use arguing - Taemin knew when to admit that he was in the wrong. And this was a time when it was clearly, entirely his fault. “Thanks.”
The irritation seemed to seep out of Key a little, but the gruffness still remained. “Aish… come on, Onew’s panicking his head off. Worried that you’d meet her. Which, now to come to think of it, his worries weren’t so silly after all.”
Taemin ignored the hidden jibe in favour to ask: “Her?”
“The Yurei.” Taemin must have looked confused. “The ghost? You know, the one who possessed you just a few second ago and would have claimed you if I hadn’t come around with my broom.”
“Oh.” Taemin blinked as the gravity of the situation dawned on him. “Oh.”
“Yes, ‘oh’.” Key rolled his eyes, beckoning Taemin to follow. “You’re really lucky you know that? Some customers were in the same predicament as you and well…”
Taemin gulped as he filled in what Key left unsaid. ‘They weren’t so lucky.’
“What is… a Y-yurei? Yurei.” Taemin stumbled over the word. “What’s a Yurei doing here anyway?”
Key paused to stare at Taemin for a moment, as if trying to discern something hidden which Taemin was pretty sure wasn’t there. Then, Key shrugged and brushed the issue off with an “ask Hyunjoong”.
Taemin would have pressed more, but it was then Onew ran up to them, looking nearly green with worry. And with a few clean lies from Key, and Taemin tactfully backing him up, Onew was back to his normal complexion.
They continued their book keeping. Key went off to cook dinner. Things returned to normal.
Or at least until Hyunjoong poked his head in.
~*~
“So, what did you want to ask that you needed me alone?”
Taemin stared at Hyunjoong at the odd way of phrasing those words. Had he? Was that? No… Hyunjoong was too mild a character to say something so saucy.
Still, they were alone in the library. Onew was gone - sent out to do some chore or another by a combination of his and Hyunjoong’s cunning.
Well, okay, fine, it was more of Hyunjoong’s cunning, and his obvious ask of “Hyunjoong can I ask you something?” whilst glancing none-too-conspicuously at Onew.
Hyunjoong had tactfully raised his eyebrow for a split-second, before his expression settled, coolly directing his attention to Onew, as if he suddenly remembered something that needed to be done. Luckily, Onew seemed oblivious to the clumsily executed ploy to get him out of the room, and had gone off cheerfully enough to “please feed the fishes. They’re getting a bit fidgety.”.
“Fishes?” Taemin had asked when Onew was gone to which Hyunjoong waved his hand and confessed an embarrassing fascination with water features.
And that of course had led to the scene of Taemin staring at Hyunjoong and wondering if his temporary employer had just passed an innuendo over him.
“You look rather scandalized.” Hyunjoong said after a length, the beginnings of a smirk on his face.
“Eh? No! I… argh…” Taemin wondered if Hyunjoong commonly made people behave in a way more idiotic than they usually did. He buried his face into his hands for a flustered moment before looking up. “Never mind. Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
Taemin tried to ignore the thoughts that the quirked eyebrow was screaming suggestion at him and related the earlier incident to Hyunjoong. “Key said what attacked me was a ‘Yurei’… and he said to ask you what it was doing here.”
For a moment, Taemin wondered if Key had been pulling the wool over his eyes, what with Hyunjoong’s perplexed expression. But then, the confusion cleared, and Hyunjoong let out a sound of understanding. “Oh… her. I’d nearly forgot about her. It’s been a while since she’s come out.”
The way Hyunjoong talked about her was like the reminiscence of an old acquaintance - someone familiar that hadn’t been seen for a while. And Taemin’s curiosity burned yet stronger. “Who is she?”
“Oh… she’s one of the few customers who would contest to the fact that this place can grant the every wish of every person.” Taemin truly wondered how Hyunjoong always managed to say things such serious in such a languid tone. “I guess you could call her an… Onryo. A vengeful ghost.”
“Who does she want to take revenge on?” Taemin found himself asking. Then his brain caught up and he looked at Hyunjoong strangely. Was it…?
“Oh, no. Not me. She was already here long before my time.” Hyunjoong laughed at Taemin’s assumption. “She was here before Onew even, who has been here the longest.”
“What… what was her wish?” Taemin suddenly felt the need to ask, a strange prodding in him, and he felt strange, as if that prodding was not of his own voliation.
“I don’t know.” Hyunjoong shrugged, unknowing. “Well, okay. I do have various versions of the story. Onew says that it was to gain back something she had lost. Key swears that she just wanted to be noticed. Jonghyun hazards its something about love. I’d be more inclined to believe Onew, but he too admitted he had gotten it from someone else, and the story may have been warped over time and memory.”
“Then… because the store-keeper then couldn’t grant her wish, she stayed and preyed on people? What happens when she possesses them?”
“I don’t really know.” Hyunjoong said thoughtfully, “She hasn’t possessed anyone for very long. It was the first thing that I was warned of when I took up the position, and I hazard that those three tell every new store-keeper that comes. Actually, I think they train all store-keepers on how to keep her at bay. In the past, she sometimes preyed on customers that were entertained in the library, but the last time I saw her was 10 years ago. And the three chased her off before she could do any harm.”
“And you haven’t?” Taemin found it hard to believe. He’d given it some thought while doing the mind-numbing book-keeping. The Yurei, whoever she was, was really strong to possess Taemin without him even knowing.
“No.” Hyunjoong replied, giving Taemin a sharp look. “Why? …Did you, get possessed?”
“No!” Taemin’s answer was too quick, and it was all that Hyunjoong needed to guess that Taemin indeed had been possessed. He chuckled, and Taemin looked down, suddenly feeling that maybe the Yurei hadn’t been that strong, he’d just been weak. But Hyunjoong must have understood the look because the next thing he said was.
“Oh, don’t worry. She’s very strong. The fact time I faced off her, Onew had to save me from a falling bookshelf while she kept me immobile.” Hyunjoong rubbed the back of his head. “Ah… old times. Old times.”
That seemed different from the way when Taemin had been attacked. And he told Hyunjoong so.
“She does seem more violent when attacking the store-keeper. There’s many records which tell of one store-keeper being attacked or another. But I haven’t had the time or curiosity to actually trace the history of our residential Yurei.” Hyunjoong tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Maybe I should…”
Taemin saw a conversational ender if he ever so one. But it was just as well, because Onew chose that moment to come back, all smiles and reports to a nodding Hyunjoong.
And before Taemin turned back to return to his dry job, he saw the hidden smile on Hyunjoong’s face, and thought that the man was lying.
He actually was psychic.
~*~
That night, nothing else was mentioned by the Yurei. Onew seemed none-the-wiser, Hyunjoong was his usual mild self and Key didn’t even glance at him. Jonghyun, obviously, was oblivious to it all. Dinner was some cod-fish thing which Taemin actually appreciated despite his dislike for cod-fish.
He had been led to his room thereafter, still not getting used to the layout of this humongous place. And Hyunjoong had commended him on the good job well done as reported by Onew. Taemin did think, that some hint or tease may have been dropped as Hyunjoong lingered a little longer as he made his way out. But all Hyunjoong did was to tell Taemin that it would be Onew again to take him on his tasks tomorrow.
It was a clear sign to tell Taemin to forget about the incident. And he thought, yeah, well, okay. This doesn’t concern me. I should and will forget it.
So he did for a while. He wasn’t sleepy yet, and it was too cold for a bath before sleep. But the room didn’t comprise of just four walls and a very luxurious bed - it was meant for living in, and so Taemin explored the rest of its furnishings. The mahogany dressing table revealed essentials such as combs, tissues, ear buds. It also revealed a curling iron and a hell lot of make-up, which Taemin raised two eyebrows to. The cherry wood cupboard yielded more satisfactory results - some ancient looking board games, a deck of poker cards, and a good selection of reading books. The last of which Taemin wriggled his fingers in gleeful delight and pulled off the shelf, almost hungrily devouring them. He had never been so eager to read before.
He spent two hours lost in Oz before proceeding to hell and revealed in its majestic horrors. He walked the faerie path and refused all food offered to him, and followed the boy and his wand and his broom and the battle against ‘He who must not be named’. He went out for walks and danced at balls, and then saw what Katy did, and mourned the lost of his love while the raven cried “Nevermore”.
Then he frowned, having a hazy recollection that although the stack from the cupboard was varied, it had not contained the works of Edgar Allan Poe. And he started, dropping the book in his hands, the thud on carpet resounding dully in the echoey halls of the library.
Taemin stared, shell-shocked at his surroundings, backing up from the shelf he was standing in front of, and yelping when he backed into another. How had he gotten here? What…? When…? He had no recollection whatsoever, only that he had been so absorbed in the tales…
It was the smallest of presences he felt that broke him from his thoughts. So small, and so invisible that Taemin wouldn’t have noticed, he thought, if she hadn’t decided to reveal herself to him.
He stood stock still. Most would have run. Some would have screamed and fainted. And yet some others would have been at a loss of what to do, fear gripping them into indecisiveness and dripping cold with sweat at the realization - like Taemin was now.
He could only watch as the mist slowly materialized into a form, like a cloud being buffeted by the wind, only shape getting more distinct instead of fading. And he held his breath, wondering what monster would be revealed.
But time passed, and Taemin was stunned to find no monster before his eyes - only a girl. A pale, white form of a girl, but a girl nonetheless. She looked like one of the girls in accounting - tall, a little awkward, sweet face that was just a little plum, glasses, shy-wide eyes, tied-back hair and a long fringe that almost obscured all those features away from the world.
“Did you enjoy ol’ Poe?”
Taemin didn’t hear the question at first, his brain having blanked out at the unexpectedness of it all. Then, he spotted the girl waving at him as if to check if he were still functioning, and unthinking, he asked, “I’m sorry?”
The girl smiled, an enchanting smile if he ever saw one, and wondered how she would look like if he could actually see her eyes. “I asked if you enjoyed Poe. He’s a little dry for some, but it’s so horrible, darkly romantic that I couldn’t resist showing you! Did you mind me dragging you all the way out here? I’m so sorry, I should have asked first, but I always get carried away when I’m excited.”
She looked so contrite, Taemin found himself shaking his head, and he was somewhat pleased to see the girl smiling in relief.
“Oh, good… I’m really sorry for the first time. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I haven’t talked with humans so long, I forget that I must accommodate to them more. I promise not to nearly kill you again! Promise…”
Taemin, in his haze, wanted to ask her what she meant, not realizing that he had forgotten about her being a ghost - one that had nearly killed him at that. And he was about to reach out and grab her shoulder, and ask her to tell him everything, when her face turned into a mask of fear, and she shrieked, ducking just as a dagger flew over her head and embedded itself into the ‘Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes’.
“Him again!” The exclaim shook Taemin out of the stupor one got into when your life just flashed in front of you. And Taemin looked up to see the girl slowly dissipating into mist. “Argh… I’m sorry. I should go before I get you into any more trouble.”
It sounded strange - that the girl was the one who nearly had been killed, and yet she was apologizing to him. He wanted to reach out, to call her back and say that, it was okay, she shouldn’t be apologizing. But before he even had gotten his mouth to open and call, “Wait!”, she had already gone.
Then, there was a rough arm beside him, pulling him up, and the next thing he knew there was a hand patting him up and down, checking if he was alright. “Oh, in the name of the sansin, do you actually like getting into trouble? You just couldn’t keep your nose out of the library despite our very obvious warning not to?”
Taemin frowned, and grabbed the hand so that he could stop it shaking him to see who it was. “Key?”
“Yes, thank you Captain Obvious. It’s me. Now, I’m bringing you back to your room, and you’re staying there! Jeez!”
No one really appreciates being scolded and insulted at the same time, least of all Taemin. It was probably why he backed away from Key with quite the fearsome scowl on his face. “No.”
Key looked rather affronted, with the way Taemin was challenging him. As if he couldn’t believe he was hearing this - and if Taemin were a little less incensed, he would have given that it would have been natural for Key to have been. He did think he just saved Taemin’s life and he did tell Taemin this, along with: “What do you mean no, are you nuts? Come on, let’s go before she comes back.”
“What if I want her to come back?” The words were out before Taemin could stop them. He hadn’t meant it to come out that way, but now that they were out, and seeing the righteous way that Key bristled, Taemin knew there would be no taking them back.
“Sure.” Key’s voice was acid defined. “You want her to come back, so that you can have fun with her flinging books at you, and wrapping hands around you, and toppling shelves onto you. Sure, you want her to come back.”
“She’s not like that!” Taemin yelled, his hands clenched into fists.
“Oh, and you would know. Of course you do, you know her really well after, what, meeting her for an oh so long two days.” Key answered, an acerbic eyebrow raising.
The red mists of a thunderstorm at night began to swirl around him, as they did on the rare times he was angry. “Well, you’re not exactly the best of friends with her either. If you at least stopped trying to kill her, maybe you’ll find that she’s different from what you think!” He glared down at Key, who didn’t seem the least perturbed at the sound of thunder reverberating like crazy against the arched walls. Then, spotting the knife which Key had thrown, and reached out to grab it. “And to throw a knife at an unarmed girl-”
“HEY! DON’T-!”
The black sparks that erupted like a small display of lightning caught Taemin of surprise, and he yelped, immediately letting go of the offending knife and prompting falling gracefully onto his butt. Cradling his hand against his chest, he stared up at Key, who was beginning to look a little uncomfortable, as if he knew the next question that would be…
“T-That was… an exorcising knife?!”
A sideways glance. “Yeah. What about it?”
“But…” Taemin’s eyes were wide as he looked Key over. “That stuff is lethal to us, but you aren’t hurt at all…”
Silence. Thinning lips, a pronounced frown. More silence
Taemin stared at Key, at his brown eyes, brown hair. At the knife and back, staring at the increasingly knitted eyebrows. And then, it dawned on him.
“Key… you’re human?” Taemin said with a breathless amount of disbelief.
He was given no answer, but the way Key refused to look at Taemin told him all he needed to know. Except, it wasn’t quite that enough.
“But, you’re older than me.” Taemin shook his head, as if that could help him comprehend what he thought was impossible. But a human? A pure-blooded human? To have been here so many years and be unchanged was close just not possible, and in the Store, where the energy here was so thick, Taemin could cut it with a knife.
Key only seemed annoyed by this, and he stepped past Taemin to grab the knife, scattering torn pieces of paper all around, stowing it away in the fur-rimmed leather jacket that Taemin realized he always seemed to wear. “You should realize that nothing is impossible in a place like this.”
“But how?” Taemin refused to let this matter go. He was tired of being left in the dark - he needed answers. And now.
“I’m not having this conversation with a wet-behind-the-ears, minor weather sprite like you!” Key growled, grabbing Taemin’s collar with a rough hand. “You’re so clueless it’s disgusting.”
“Well, then, enlighten me!” Taemin growled back, his eyes narrowing. Somewhere, a bolt of lightning struck a chair, turning the red wood black.
“If you want to bloody know anything, then go ask Hyunjoong.” Key shoved Taemin backwards. “If anyone needs to answer questions, it’s him!”
“Is that so, then it’s a good thing that I’m here then.”
The calm voice pierced through the tension in the room like a lance into an eye. And Key immediately let go of Taemin, the boy stumbling back until he hit the back of the bookshelf.
Even the pain that shot through his back didn’t stop Taemin from staring at the entirely too mildly smug face that stared back at the two of them.
Hyunjoong titled his head in that (annoying) way of his, and his lips tugged up in what Taemin thought was exaggerated ignorance.
“So… what did you two what to ask me?”
~*~
[ Chapter 4]