The irony was not lost on either of Taemin or Jongin. Not at all. They had both had a good laugh about the idea that Jongin and Krystal were doing a couples photoshoot with Taemin in attendance as Jongin's good friend.
The irony was not lost at all.
Jongin and Taemin made sure to enjoy the photoshoot as much as they could and to be as connected as they could get away with during the photoshoot. Of course there was definitely too much touching between Jongin and Krystal for Taemin's liking but Taemin attempted to keep his comments to a minimum.
He knew deep down that Krystal was doing them a huge favor. But that didn't mean that having to watch Jongin and Krystal act like a couple right in front of him didn't hurt at all. Taemin knew that the situation wasn't exactly ideal for any of them though.
Jongin was even more scared than ever about anyone finding out about them dating, Taemin was annoyed about having to watch them be all lovey with each other, and Krystal was having to act like she was in love with a man who clearly was not in love with her.
It sucked for everyone, Taemin could admit that much. He just wasn't entirely sure who got the shortest end of the stick amongst them.
"You okay?" Krystal asked, sitting down beside him.
Taemin nodded, "Yeah I'm good."
Krystal reached over and patted Taemin's knee, gentle smile on her face. "You know you're all Jongin talks about whenever we're out together."
"Really?" Taemin asked, looking over at her.
"Really. He would do anything for you, Taemin."
"Except be open with the public about us."
He didn't mean to come across sounding so bitter, but it was the truth - if Jongin had been willing to just be open about their relationship, they wouldn't all be stuck in this position.
Krystal tilted her head to the side, "True. But it's only cause Jongin's worried about you and your career and safety. He doesn't want to risk anything that could negatively impact you in any way, Taem. Trust me, it's all I've listened to him talk about is how much he loves you and worries about you."
"He's told you he loves me?" Taemin asked, Krystal nodded. "He hasn't said that to me yet."
Krystal nodded once again, sighing slightly as she looked back to where Jongin was standing talking to the photographer about something. "He's scared about pretty much everything when it comes to your alls relationship from what he's told me. You're lucky to have landed him as a boyfriend - most girls in this business would kill for that."
Taemin nodded, knowing she was right. He wasn't sure how he felt about Jongin sharing all his feelings and thoughts about their relationship with her - including feelings he hadn't even shared with Taemin - but he was glad that at least Jongin was opening up to someone.
And truly, out of all the people Jongin could have been set up with - Krystal was someone that Taemin felt he could trust to not try anything sketchy. Shinee had always been close to f(x). So Taemin didn't really feel like he had to be worried about anything happening.
■
Jongin was laying across the couch, head on Taemin's lap with Taemin running a hand through his hair absentmindedly while scrolling on his phone.
They wouldn't be doing this in the middle of EXO's dorm except for the fact that everyone was out except for them and Sehun, so the only person that could potentially walk out and see them already knew about them being together. Or else they'd be in Jongin's room.
"You're really cute, you know that?" He said, looking up at Taemin.
Taemin looked down at him, rolling his eyes slightly. "Shut up." He mumbled, pulling Jongin's hair a little bit.
"It's the truth, Taem." Jongin said, leaning up and kissing Taemin.
"Woah, cool it down in here." Sehun said, a shake of his head accompanying his words as he walked through the living room - hand shielding his eyes. "This is still a public house and not all of us want to watch you two make out in here."
Jongin's face turned a bright shade of red as he looked over at Sehun - forgetting that they hadn't been alone in the dorm. Taemin laughed lightly, "Then don't watch." He said, pressing his lips to Jongin's again.
■
Jongin and Taemin had gotten so used to their routine that any day that they weren't able to get together as soon as they were both done with recording or practice - it left whichever one of them that wasn't busy unsure of what to do.
Taemin had ended up on the short end of that stick for the most part as of recently. He seemed to constantly be stuck waiting for Jongin to get done with whatever date they had sent Krystal and him off on. Besides that EXO seemed to have more of a schedule going on at the moment as well - so it meant Taemin was spending a lot of his time either alone or just with the rest of Shinee, which he wasn't complaining about really. He just missed Jongin.
"You're awful quiet." Minho said, plopping himself down on the couch. "What's wrong?"
Taemin shook his head, "Nothing."
"You know who I haven't seen in a while? Jongin. Are you all still friends?"
"Yeah, course we are. He's just been busy with Krystal."
Minho nodded, "I never would have thought that Krystal was Jongin's type."
"I don't think Jongin necessarily has a type."
"Everyone has a type, Taem." Minho said, shaking his head. "Besides I don't just mean looks wise."
Taemin felt the shock pass through his body at what Minho was suggesting - despite Taemin already knowing it was true, he felt the need to act stupid. To protect Jongin in any way he could.
"What are you talking about? Have you not hear the literal hundreds of stories about Jongin being with most of the girls within SM?"
Minho shrugged, "So? I figured it was a cover or something. Or that it was him trying to convince himself of something. But I guess I was wrong, cause I doubt Krystal would let herself be used as a cover."
Jonghyun walked over after hearing the conversation going on, sitting down in one of the chairs off to the side of the couch. "Cut it out, Minho. It's not really any of anyone's business who Jongin likes or doesn't like and who he's dating."
Minho nodded, "I know - I was just saying that I was surprised about Jongin being with Krystal." He said, tilting his head slightly and shrugging a little bit.
■
Jongin was exhausted from the long day of practice that he had finished earlier with EXO and then the date he had to go on with Krystal. And even though it was late enough that he could go on back to the dorm and go on to sleep and he wouldn't get any flack for that fact.
But he felt awful for not having really talked to Taemin that much during the day. And his feelings of guilt had only gotten worse after he got a text from Taemin.
I hate this so much.
He didn't know what had happened, but he knew Taemin was supposed to be at Shinee's dorm today and so he decided it wouldn't hurt for him to stop by for a while before heading back to his dorm.
Jongin quickly knocked a couple of times on the door, Minho opened it after a second with a smile.
"Oh hey Jongin. We were just talking about you a little while ago." He said, stepping out of the way.
Jongin walked inside, "Hey." He said as soon as he was inside. Taemin stood up from the couch and smiled over at him, tilting his head over toward the hallway. Jongin nodded and they walked down the hallway and into Taemin's old room.
Taemin shut the door behind them and Jongin collapsed over onto the bed - Taemin following suit after a moment. Jongin immediately intertwined their hands between them, hoping to somehow comfort Taemin for whatever had gone on that had upset him and caused the text earlier.
"You wanna talk about whatever was bothering you?"
"Not really. But I mean it's just Minho." He replied, shrugging slightly and staring up at the ceiling. "He was just saying earlier that he couldn't believe you and Krystal were together and that he always kind of thought you might have liked guys - but that he knew Krystal wouldn't be the type to be anyone's cover so he guessed that that proved him wrong. And it just bothered me for some reason."
"Taem - this, me dating Krystal, is just for us to be able to continue to be us without the world being nosey about it." Jongin said, lifting their intertwined hands to his lips and pressing a kiss to Taemin's hand. "I swear to you, it's nothing more than that."
"I know that. I just - it got in my head and just got me thinking."
"I'm sorry." Jongin said, looking over at Taemin. "I'm really sorry we're in this predicament."
"It's not your fault."
"Yeah it is though. If I wasn't so scared about being out then we wouldn't have to be hidden away like this. I could have just owned up to it when the rumors started going around, but instead I didn't and now I'm having to fake date Krystal and you're stuck here."
"Don't worry about it, Jongin."
Jongin couldn't help but worry about it though. He just couldn't help it. Because he could see it was taking a toll on Taemin, having to hide their relationship. But Jongin was still too scared to admit to the world who he was interested in.