The Other Girl

Chapter 19 (Nine Crimes)

"This is not going on the news, this is not going on the news."

Onew watched with sympathy as Manager Gyeongshik paced worriedly from one end of the hotel room to the other. His phone was pressed against his ear as he was waiting for the other end to pick up. SHINee's tranquil leader sat on the foot of the bed that Taemin was lying on. The younger boy was tucked underneath the covers, a warm, damp washcloth folded neatly over his forehead. His face was still as pallid as it was when they lugged him to the emergency room of a nearby Paris hospital. The doctors had been able to revive him with the insertion of an IV and an injection of a certain drug, and after that, they had come to the conclusion that Taemin had fainted from fatigue and hypertension.

Key was so scared shitless for the skinny boy that he couldn't stop crying. He was hauled out of Taemin's hospital room by some of the SNSD noonas and cried his eyes out all the way back to the hotel. Onew and Manager Gyeongshik stayed behind to check Taemin out of the hospital and bring him back to the hotel where they eyed him carefully.

Now, their tired manager was quickly trying to change Taemin's flight to a later date in compliance with the doctor's orders that he cannot fly with hypertension. Calls had already been made to the SM Entertainment management dealing with the fact that Taemin was rushed to the hospital. The company most certainly didn't want this news to be spread all over, for fear of even more talks about how SME was doing little for the well-being of their artists.

Jonghyun came in the room just as Manager Gyeongshik had finished booking another flight back to Korea for him and Taemin. He was holding a Styrofoam bowl of lentil soup and placed it on the bedside table next to Taemin's prescription bottles of enalapril.

"How is he?" he asked his hyung, looking down at the fragile boy. Jonghyun took a seat next to Onew and absentmindedly rubbed Taemin's socked from under the thick duvet.

"He's been asleep since we got back," Onew answered reaching over to remove the damp washcloth from Taemin's forehead and gently dabbing his moist head with a nearby towel. He walked over to toss the washcloth in the sink inside the restroom before resuming his seat next to Jonghyun. "How's Key?"

Jonghyun sighed. "He finally stopped crying. It took Yoona a long time to calm him down, but she managed. He's with Minho now."

There was a gap of silence as their Manager left the room, advising Onew and Jonghyun to keep an eye on Taemin.

"Did you ever find out why Taemin passed out?" Jonghyun asked Onew, breaking the silence.

Onew shrugged languidly. "From what I heard, Yunho said something to Taemin that got him so worked up. I don't know what he said, though."

The two boys remained silent again, as they both tried to individually decipher the cause of Taemin's sudden incident. Finally Jonghyun spoke again.

"Do you think it had something to do with Seo Hee?"

His hyung hesitated for a minute, and then said, "I'm very sure it had something to do with her."

***

Back in Korea, the fancafes of SM's newly debuted girl group, Blush, was having a field day. Ever since Hyo Jin's onstage duet performance of her and Taemin's digital single, fans overflowed the internet with comments on how good Hyo Jin looked with Taemin and how real they looked as a couple. Hyo Jin's heart fluttered with excitement knowing that the chemistry she had spent so much time perfecting was finally paying off. She couldn't wait until management would suggest for her and Taemin to finally act as a couple to please fans. She couldn't have felt any more ecstatic.

"If only Taemin were here to see this!" She exclaimed with so much enthusiasm after seeing another cheeky comment from a fan in Shinee's fancafe.

Hyo Jin's unnie, and Blush's leader, Seong Eun smiled encouragingly at her dongsaeng. Even though she still didn't approve of Hyo Jin pushing herself onto Taemin who was obviously taken (but it was unbeknownst to them that he actually wasn't), she could help but feel happy for Hyo Jin.