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They’d gotten back to their backstage room on a high. They hadn’t won anything tonight but Exo had and the five of them were more than happy for their label mates. It may not have been a win for SHINee but it was a win for SM and really for their latest song Exo had kind of earnt it. Minho was first into the room, having gotten there quickly as ever. Key followed, walking straight towards his dressing table and fixing his hair yet again, despite the fact that the cameras were no longer on them. Jinki followed with Jonghyun, Jinki had an arm around Jonghyun, jokingly dragging him along as the other drooped in his grasp, too tired to play along with whatever lame body gag their leader was trying.
Jonghyun was dropped onto the couch along one wall carefully by Jinki as the boy walked away from their sleepiest member to find something to snack on before they had to leave to go to their next promotion. Jonghyun lazed for a moment before pulling himself up and smiling as he looked over each of them. Minho stretching his arms and doing whatever small exercise the room would afford him, Key reapplying his hundredth layer of bb cream, Onew pulling out a bag of chips victoriously and eating them four at a time. It was nice to just relax at the end of a show with his members. Jonghyun loved each and every one of his four-
Four… Jonghyun, feeling slightly sluggish even as he tried to force himself to get back some of that energy he had displayed on stage tonight, looked around the room again and counted off in his head. Onew, check, himself, check, Key, check, Minho, check, Taemin… Taemin.
Jonghyun sat up and turned to Minho, the only one really paying attention to the world around him.
“Where’d Taemin get to?” He said with as much effort as he could.
“Taemin?” Minho said, looking around, “He was with us on stage…”
“He’s not here now.” Jonghyun replied, gesturing as though it was not obvious to anyone who had gotten more than 2 hours sleep.
Minho excused his statement, sometimes when Jonghyun was tired he spoke too much and explained stupid things. However Taemin wasn’t in the room. And Minho hadn’t noticed the maknae walk through to the adjoining bathroom.
“Hyung,” He called, not really caring which turned to him, he almost laughed as Jonghyun jerked his head to look at him once more, “Where’s Taemin?”
Jonghyun looked like he was about to respond but Onew got there first, “I had sleepy Jjongie, he wasn’t with you or Key?”
At the sound of his name Key turned away from the mirror. He looked miffed already, just hearing that they needed his attention. His cat like eyes spared a short glance at Jonghyun and Onew before glaring softly at Minho, the usual cause for his problems.
“I didn’t have him, he was downstage with Kai, near Key.” Minho said, trying to show Key that it wasn’t his fault this time.
Key turned away from Minho to look at Jonghyun, the first voice he’d heard when entering the room, even if he hadn’t heard what Jong had said. “Who was with Kai?”
“Taemin.” Jonghyun replied, he gestured around the room again, “He’s not here.”
Key looked around and took a deep breath that Minho knew spelt trouble. That was the breath Key took when Taemin had been cooking, or Onew had stolen his lunch, or Jonghyun said something controversial in the wrong place, or Minho wore one of his best shirts without permission.
Minho was already moving his hands into a defensive position when Key let all of the air out of his lungs with a yell.
“Yah! Where is my son?!”
Jong had been less prepared than Minho and flinched backwards, Onew was already putting his snack down, thoughts of eating forgotten as he realised Key was about to become a problem. Jonghyun looked around the room again, as if Taemin would magically appear and answer his best friend’s question. When Taemin did not appear from thin air Jonghyun felt tears prickle in the back of his eyes. He really should have slept more last night, especially after their busy week so far, but that song had been begging to be written.
Key, like the others, didn’t notice Jonghyun welling up to have a sobbing attack. Instead he turned to Minho, glaring harder than he had before.
“He was with you! I saw you brush the hair out of his face! I thought you’d look after him!”
“He was down near you with Kai,” Minho took a step back and glanced towards Onew for support.
“Then you were also the last to see him!” Key fired back.
The two had been known for their tiffs, even within their fan base. Key loved Minho, and Minho loved Key, but somehow they managed to grind each other’s gears in just the right way that if there was ever a problem it automatically became the other’s fault.
Jonghyun watched Key and Minho yell at each other. He knew they hated it really. He’d heard Key whine about fighting with Minho, how he wished he could stop it. Jong had been there when Minho professed his frustration that he and Key always ended up clashing when all he wanted was for Key and him to get on.
What had started as a small prickle at the back of his eyes for his friend’s distress turned into heavy tears spilling over his lids as he watched the pair fight. Why couldn’t they just get on? Where was Taemin? Was Taemin alright?
Onew had been trying to keep his place between his two younger members, even the idea of him as a physical barrier would help calm the two. But then he heard the deep inhale of Jonghyun as he tried to breathe through his sobs and he made the mistake of stepping away from them to pat Jong on the shoulder and try help him calm down.
Without Onew standing there Key started to advance on Minho. While Minho had initially taken a step back he was starting to get real sick of Key blaming him for things that weren’t his fault and as if Key thought he could take him anyway, Minho was the best idol athlete in the country. It wasn’t until Key reached him and slapped at his shoulder that Minho realised he may have made a mistake. He cringed to one side and hunched his shoulders in protection. For Key to get this aggressive he really must have been upset. And standing there getting hit wasn’t helping them find Taemin.
Taemin was missing, not that it was Minho’s fault they lost him, and he should do something about that. Yet there Minho was, cringing to one side as key slapped his shoulder over and over. A combination of heavy rings and a sleeveless jersey made the situation worse than it usually was while they relaxed at the dorms.
Over the noise of Key's worried screech Minho finally heard the well-known and distinct sound of Jonghyun sobbing. Minho knew the elder had gotten very little sleep the night before. He hoped Onew was helping Jonghyun because every move he made to try reach the resident crier of the group got him another slap and rose the pitch of Key’s screech. Minho prayed that the eldest of their group would somehow manage to calm down Jonghyun and find Taemin before Key left a bruise on his arm that would leave manager hyung sighing in resigned disappointment.
Onew was patting Jonghyun’s arm with one hand and trying to reach the landline with his other. If he could get hold of the broadcast centre's manager before their own exasperated manager found them in this state that would be best.
Jonghyun was vaguely aware of the sensation on his shoulder but he was sobbing so hard he couldn’t be sure if it was a person or just the way he had fallen into the couch. He had his eyes squeezed shut and he could really do with a hug from one or all of his members right about now. But Taemin was missing. And that had made Key freak out. And that had made him argue with Minho. And they didn’t really want to argue because they loved each other but they just couldn’t help it. And it was all because Jonghyun had asked where Taemin was. And where was Taemin?
Taemin had been standing next to Kai, congratulating him on his win, when the MC had declared that Exo would perform their song. That meant that everyone else was free to go to the backstage rooms and relax. Taemin had a packet of chips stashed somewhere that he could enjoy while he watched the latest episode of Naruto in their break.
Taemin made to move towards the stage exit, seeing the back of Onew ahead of him and not wanting the elder to find his chips before he got to them. When Onew was hungry he tended to eat anything he found, regardless of ownership. Somehow a wall of bodies blocked him from leaving, various members of Exo falling between him and the exit. Taemin turned back to Kai who was smiling at him as though he knew a funny joke.
“Your white jacket,” Kaiy laughed, “They think you’re one of us.”
Taemin grinned, “Hi, I’m Exo’s best dancer Taemin.”
Kai shoved him with his shoulder playfully and argued that he was, in fact, Exo’s best dancer, despite their new member. Taemin laughed back and challenged him to a dance off. Exo’s song was starting to play and a few members were falling into place while others still stood around thrilled by their win.
Taemin and Kai started dancing in sync, perfectly pulling off all the moves from the dance. Despite the fact that it wasn’t Taemin’s song he’d spent plenty of time joking around in Exos’ practice room and helping Kai practice when they hung out together.
Eventually a few of the other members started to notice their new member in the black jeans, instead of the full white suits they all sported. A few people grinned at Taemin and others danced back at him while laughing. Taemin moved among them as they performed for the crowd, blending in and thoroughly enjoying himself.
They finished the set, bowed to the audience and headed backstage themselves. Taemin stayed with the group for a little while, laughing and insisting that he was swapping group. Eventually he decided to go back to SHINee though. It had been about ten minutes since he had left their side. He wondered if they’d even noticed. Jong as probably asleep, Key fixing his hair, Onew eating his damned chips and Minho doing some sort of exercise, push ups maybe. Taemin laughed to himself as he pictured sneaking in and pretending it had never happened. He wondered if Key would figure it out when he rewatched the program later.
Taemin opened the door to their room and froze. Really he should have heard something before to give it away. Taemin rarely paid attention when he was in his own little world though and the sound proofing was decent so that artists could practice their sets before going on.
Jonghyun was sobbing uncontrollably on the couch. His face was red, his makeup was smudged, he was making an awful hiccupping sound and his eyes were squeezed shut so tight that Taemin could have sworn it would hurt.
Not as much as Minho’s arm though. It was already starting to turn a bright red, to match Jonghyun’s face, and Taemin was only glad Key hit with an open hand or his massive rings would have probably cut skin by now. Key himself was yelling at Minho as the younger cowered. Luckily Minho didn’t look like he was being actually injured, he knew how to deal with Key at this stage.
Onew didn’t seem to know how to deal with the situation though. He was on the phone talking in a hushed tone trying to convince someone on the other end to do him a favour and keep it secret. The cord of the land line barely reached half way across the room and so Onew was standing with his face as far as the phone would permit while angling the rest of his body towards Jonghyun to try offer some support.
Taemin wished he hadn’t walked in. Because somehow he knew this was all because of him. And now he was going to have to deal with it.
Just as Taemin had suspected no one had noticed his entrance, even if it was for a completely different reason than he thought. So he cleared his throat loudly to try and catch everyone’s attention.
Onew was the first to look over, probably thinking that someone had come to help him. When he saw Taemin his whole body relaxed. He told the person he was talking to that everything was fine, threw the phone in the direction of the table it's other half sat on and collapsed onto the couch next to Jonghyun to hug him properly.
Jonghyun, noticing a sudden presence next to him looked up to find out who it was. His eyes fell on Onew, tears threatening to come out harder as he saw how much the elder was willing to take care of him, before moving on to see Taemin.
“Taemin!” He cried with a sob.
Taemin was honestly pretty confused. Had Onew been on the phone for him? Was Jonghyun crying because of him?
Minho noticed next, looking past Key’s onslaught at Jonghyun’s call. When he saw Taemin he shifted, trying to deflect Key more and shoving the elder so that he could see their last member where he stood in the doorway.
When Key saw him his whole body lit up. Taemin braced himself for the massive bone crushing hug moments before it impacted.
“Where were you?” Key was asking frantically, “We couldn’t find you.”
“Not that we looked," Minho said with a scowl, “Someone was too busy hitting me for losing you.”
Taemin blinked, “I was onstage with Exo.”
“Exo?” Key asked, leaning back in the hug slightly.
Taemin gestured at his shirt, “I blended in and got stuck.”
Key seemed to think about that for a second before he pulled away completely and turned around to pull Minho into an anaconda tight hug.
“I’m sorry.” Key was saying, rubbing one hand over Minho’s shoulder and using the other to hold Minho in place as he tried to back up and find his balance.
Jonghyun, seeing Key hug Minho, burst into another round of even louder tears. This caused all of the boys to crowd around Jonghyun and give him a big hug from the couch, trying to get him to calm down and take steady breaths.
In the end there was only one thing Taemin could do about the whole situation. He looked at all of his hyungs, so affected by the fact that he had been lost, tears starting to well in Key and Minho’s eyes also, so caring. Taemin took in a deep breath, so filled with love from these beautiful people, and laughed.