Sweet Gravity

#SweetestGoodbye

"Are.. you my... marriage partner?"

It was a stupid thing to say, but Taemin couldn't regret the day they were first introduced as virtual husband and wife for the We Got Married program. The program required a script, the general hand of what they would do, and the cue notes for their conversations. Other than that, it was all improvised. He loved singing and dancing; even though he branched out to acting, acting was never his expertise. If he was seen so lovey-dovey and smitten toward her, it was indeed because his feeling was natural. He was genuinely smitten by her and her being oblivious frustrated him even more.

He didn't remember precisely when Naeun finally realized his feeling. He only remembered during their WGM filming around his birthday. They were on a break, Taemin was having his makeup fixed, and Naeun was playing with her phone. They sat on their famous WGM sofa, which apparently became the audience's favorite spot for them to shoot. Taemin kept talking about the event he and other SHINee members attended before the shooting, about how he yawned so much during the possibility that he was afraid someone would take a video of it. Of course, someone did and uploaded it for the world to see. Taemin remembered talking so much that day because he was sleepy, and if he didn't speak, he would fall asleep right then. When he realized he got very little response from Naeun, he shifted so he could see her. Naeun sat across him, with her feet tucked under her body. She laid her head on the back of the sofa, and her eyes...

They were bright, unassuming, and for some cheesy part, they were sparkling.

Her gaze sent a bolt of electricity through his entire body, and he blinked, confused. He looked away and focused on his stylist noona, but he couldn't stop his hammering heart. He sent the stylist to go and exhaled. No way... No way she knew it already. He was careful not to let her know his real feeling, masking his excitement as him having fun doing WGM with her. But what if... what if she finally realized and had the same feeling as his?

He turned his body around, mimicking Naeun's sitting, and finally settled his eyes on her. She was staring at him.

This time he didn't blink. He let it happen. Naeun was undressing him with her eyes - slowly, carefully. Moment to moment. He felt like her eyes were spilling out all of his secrets and desires. It was a reading of the mind. And he liked it; he loved every second of it.

He didn't know how long they sat there, staring at each other, and Naeun started smiling. His eyes were drawn to her lips, and he licked his lips unconsciously. He began to imagine her taste if he kissed her. He didn't kiss her then; instead, he reached for her fingers and held them until they were called for another take. That was when they knew, and it didn't take long for them to date.

They'd dated for two years, two blissfully years. One time they were almost caught by Dispatch, but Kai and Krystal saved them. It was the second time Kai & Krystal's candid pictures were taken by Dispatch. The first one would be the revelation of their relationship. Kai and Krystal had been so discreet about their dates after that, making sure they weren't being followed or bothered. For them to make an exception for him and Naeun so they could hide their relationship made him incredibly grateful for having Kai and Krystal as his best friends.

They tried to stay connected even when their schedules were crazy. Taemin tried to call her, katalk her every night, and so did she. But not long after that, the calls were reduced to texts; every day's texts became every week's texts. Eventually, fighting was inevitable until, finally, they had enough. They separated without any unnecessary drama. It was their decision, even though it hurt both.

They had a rough past with their fans, especially about their relationship. It'd been years since they broke up, and they saw each other at music events. They greeted each other politely backstage because they honestly didn't want to acknowledge each other in the presence of their fans. That was why they tried to distance themselves as far as possible on stage, but sometimes it failed miserably. One time, Key showed a candid video of him looking at Naeun from afar during a year-end award show. It was embarrassing; his members didn't stop teasing him for days.