𝙳𝙴𝙲𝙴𝙸𝚅𝙴𝙳 |ᶰʲᵐ

Chapter 3

Shinrae heard buzzing sounds from her school bag making her pause to reach out for her phone. She stood in the middle of the staircase to check what was all the ruckus about. A questionable look appeared across her face to see tons of notifications popping up on her friend's group chat. She scanned the messages to see her friends fangirling over another boy band. Shinrae wasn't a big of a fan of boygroups, she tends to just listen to the recent music and vibes to any song she likes. 

"........IS SUCH A CUTIE TT" 

She cant help but cringe. She kept scrolling down and clicked on a group photo, the full picture of this boyband her friends were hyping about. Eyes widen as she continues walking up the stairs. Noticing that the guest room door wasn't fully shut, she peeped in. And there he stood, back facing the girl, making her clear her throat to get his attention. She opened the door wider and leaned against the doorframe. 

"I know who you are,"

Jaemin froze. His mind instantly led to the thought of him being doomed. His eyes made contact towards the girl who raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to speak. She stepped inside the room approaching him slowly in intentions to make him more nervous, just hoping he could give and spill some answers.

The two stood atleast three feet from eachother. She took a step closer, teasing him. Jaemin took a step back till his back made contact towards the dresser.

"I-" he stutters.

"Jaemin can you come down and help me in the garage!" Jin shouted from a far, breaking the tension between the two. Shinrae's eyes never left his. The two remained still as they were a few minutes ago, the girl was still waiting for answers.

"-your father is calling for me," he said as he clears his throat, breaking eye contact and stormed out of the room. 

She stood there in the now empty bedroom and sighed. She was confident and she needed an explanation from him. A vibrating alert sound caught her off guard making her look down and face her phone screen.

" I'm literally having a huge man crush on jeno! like cmon look at him"

-

Jaemin crouched down with a few equipment in his hands. Those words Shinrae has said to him made him worried. His head hits realization that they weren't living in the historical times but this is 2016, any certain information is delivered by seconds through the internet. The thought of that made him cuss to himself. He was worried that the company might have broke down the news about his disappearance.

"can you lend me that wrench over there," Uncle Jin said pointing up at the shelves in front of him. Jaemin turned around and did what he was told. Jin thanked him and went back under his car to undo its bolt, flushing out its old fluid. It was an old corolla altis, seems like its been unused for awhile.

"this car is for Shinrae," he said.

"I know its too early, she's just a year younger than you but she loves this car, a gift from my father when I got my first job," he explains.

"I see," Jaemin replied.

Jin finally slid his way out of the car and wiped his now dirty hands with the towel that was laid over his right shoulder. He helped the guy stand and removed the car jack. Jin thanked Jaemin for his assistance and told him to clean himself up while he cleaned up the rest of the mess. Jaemin excused himself from the garage and entered the house, walking his way up the stairs to get into his room.

He suddenly bumped into Shinrae who has just left her room, wearing her nightwear. The impact made her attire stained black due to the oil stains, on left shoulder. She looked down then back up to the teenage boy. She groaned in frustration at him but shook it off.

"be careful," she said. Jaemin nods and apologized to her, speeding off to his room that was just a door away from hers. He closed the door behind him and rested his head on the door as his heart raced. 

Shinrae went back to her room to change. She can tell he was so nervous around her, not surprised after literally scaring him in his room but she knew everything. Living as a teenager in this century is just too easy, almost everything is an information source; TV, radio, phones, computers, tablets and even the people around you. Finding out that a kpop star is living under your roof now is something else. 

She even had the urge to tell her friends about it, but she chose not to. He must've had his reasons to leave, not that she knew anything about idols but exposing him just like that is cruel. That doesn't mean she's not gonna do anything about it, she needs answers.

 Answers from the boy himself.

Jaemin stood infront of the bathroom mirror with both hands on each side of the sink after taking a quick shower. He turned on the tap and washed his face, he wiped off the excess with his towel and stared at his reflection. His damp hair hanging down, he pulled it back and went back to his room to put on some clean clothes.

The sound of the door knocking made him startled as he was about to put on his shirt. Jaemin then allowed the person to enter, only to see Hyunjae. He had a smile on his face and held a basket full of clothes.

"hyung! mom told me to call you down for dinner and I am here to collect your dirty clothes," he cheered lifting up the basket higher. His actions made Jaemin smiled as he took the basket from him.

"let me carry this for you, thanks jaejae!" he said as he ruffled his hair. Jaemin put his dirty clothes in the basket and left the room with Hyunjae.

"I forgot!" the little boy stopped his tracks making Jaemin look back.

"I forgot noona's clothes!" he said.

"I-hey, I'll get them for you," Jaemin response, stuttering at first. Hyunjae looks up at Jaemin and asked him if he was okay with it. Jaemin responded with a smile on his face and nodded, telling him to go downstairs for dinner.

Jaemin held the basket firmly and walked his way to her room. Giving it a short knock, she responded a "come in" from inside. Jaemin turned the knob and opened the door to see her in the bathroom, tying up her hair into a ponytail. Jaemin stood there to wait for her to come out.

"uh I need your clothes," he said as he showed her the basket.

She nodded and went into her closet, coming out with her clothes in her hands. Jaemin became tense as she makes her way closer to him. She put the clothes in the basket that was still in his hands. She looked up at the nervous boy who was avoiding any eye contact from her. 

"why are you so tense?" she said as she crossed her arms making him look at her.

"I- I'm not," he said.

"then," she took a step closer with faces just a few inches from eachother. 

"what about now?" she studied his face up and down, smirking. Jaemin stood still as his breath hitched as he can sense her breathing against his cheek, he gulped as he looked down and made eye contact with her. Her hands made its way to his jaw and smiled.

"no?" he gave her no response and held the basket tighter in his hands.

"well I better try harder," she said as she backed away and took her phone before exiting her room.

"oh and by the way," she stopped her tracks and looked back. Jaemin didn't move an inch. She walked back to him and whispered against his ear.

"chewing gum is my jam," she said, skipping her way down the stairs for dinner leaving him speechless and cheeks warm. He finally breathed out after holding it in for a few minutes that felt so much like an hour. He licked his lips and went out of her room closing the door behind him.

"she knows,"