Kai does see Taemin again, only he still doesn’t know who he really is or what his name really is. He was back at the park - he didn’t really know why he went back - but the man’s entire family was there again, and now they had a newborn with them. A boy, if the blue baby blanket was anything to go by.
He didn’t know what made him do it, but he found himself walking over, and before he could stop himself, he was in front of this man and his wife and he said in what he was sure was a shaking voice, “You have a beautiful family.”
The woman turned, surprised, but she beamed at him and held on a little tighter to the little bundle of newborn in her arms.
“Aww, thank you so much,” she said.
“Thank you,” Taemin said, his voice tight. Then he turned to the woman and said, “We should really get going.”
“Oh, but Yeri’s just gotten a spot on the swings,” his wife said. “We can stay a few more minutes.”
“What’s his name?” Kai asked, his throat feeling like sandpaper. “The baby?”
The woman turned back to him and grinned, then she looked down at the newborn and ran a thumb over his cheek.
“Kai,” she said, and Kai jumped a bit. Then the woman giggled, turned to Taemin and scrunched her nose up, and said in a smug-sounding voice, “Taemin’s always wanted to name his son Kai. He was absolutely adamant about it.”
“Really?” Kai asked in a breathless voice.
“Really,” Taemin said.
Then it hit Kai. This man’s name was Taemin. Taemin - the man who once pretended to be his boyfriend - had named his son after him.
“I’m sorry,” Kai said quickly. “I need to go - I’m - I’m sorry for bothering you.”
“Oh, you were no bother,” Taemin’s wife laughed.
“Thank you,” Taemin said softly, his hand hovering over his son’s head and running his fingers through the tuft of baby hair on his head.
Kai nodded, and he turned around to leave.
“That was so cute,” he heard Taemin’s wife say. “How old do you think he is? Nineteen? What a sweet boy.”
“He’s probably twenty-five,” Taemin said. “Amber, babe, I’m gonna go get Yeri, we really gotta go to my parents’ soon.”
“Fine, you have fun ripping her off that swing set,” Amber said in a smug voice.
Kai watched from afar as Taemin carried his kicking and screaming three-year-old back to his wife, and he once again watched the man and his little family leave the park. It was bittersweet, but it made him feel better to know that he had been important enough in the man’s life for him to name his son after him.
In bullied au, one of the things Taemin truly resented about the whole bullying thing was that it put a strain on his real relationships with other people. He was constantly lying to everyone about being fine and okay, and it just took its toll on him. Plus, those other idols would sometimes interrupt time he had with other idols under SM who he was actually sort of friends with.
In this au, Taemin also had the biggest, hugest crush on Amber, and the idols who bullied him just constantly got in the way of that, especially when they sort of pieced together that Taemin liked her.
If SHINee and f(x) ever promoted around the same time, Taemin would try to go see them so he could say hi to Amber. He would tell her bad jokes that Jinki would tell at the dorms or in the van on the way to a schedule, and he hoped that she would like them. She always laughed, and he would smile so much wider when she did.
Whenever SHINee and f(x) collaborated on something, Taemin would wiggle his way next to Amber just so he could be next to her. If they were all backstage, he would bring her waters or snacks or anything so he could have a reason to talk to her.
Everyone knew Taemin liked Amber, it was just a fact. No one told Taemin that they knew, but everyone knew. Amber was pretty oblivious to it at first, because she just thought Taemin was being nice, but then Luna and Krystal were just like, “He’s doing it because he’s got the biggest gosh dang crush on you and it’s honestly embarrassing. Both of you are so embarrassing. Him because he’s trying so hard, and you because you’re so oblivious.”
The whole “Taemin has a crush on Amber” thing started around Lucifer promotions, and by Everybody promotions, it was just so bad. He liked her so much, and she didn’t really know what to do, and neither of them were allowed to date so it was just a slippery slope neither of them knew how to navigate. Plus, she liked him back, but it was hard to tell in that situation if she liked him like that and not just as a friend.
What made it worse, however, was the fact that these other idols were starting to realize that Taemin liked a girl. The girl idols did not take kindly to that. They would wait until he was around Amber to drag him away somewhere, and he was always too shocked to do anything about it. He didn’t want to say anything because he didn’t want people to find out, but he thought that Amber thought he was some little man-whore who was going off with all these different girls.
One time, Taemin swore the girl who pulled him into an empty room waited until she heard Amber walking by to push Taemin out into the hall. He was shoved into the hallway, Amber and Krystal staring at him with wide, shocked eyes, and all he could do was try to swallow the lump in his throat when the girl strutted out of the room giggling.
“Taemin?” Krystal asked. “Are you alright?”
“Mmhmm,” Taemin hummed, his voice higher than usual. “Fine.”
“Is it? Oh,” Taemin said, ignoring the last question. “Stylist must’ve messed up. Didn’t notice. I’ll, uh, see you later, I gotta, um, go.”
He hurried down the hall to go back to the dressing room.
She thinks I’m easy, she thinks I just fuck girls backstage and don’t even bother to put my shirt back on right, she thinks I’m disgusting, he thought to himself.
He was out of it for a few days after that. He didn’t really want to talk to anyone, he didn’t bring Amber any waters or any snacks, and he didn’t tell her any dumb jokes like he usually did. He thought she didn’t want anything to do with him, because why would she after catching him coming out of an empty room with another girl?
When she started bringing him waters and snacks and telling him bad jokes, he could only smile and laugh and thank her. She didn’t start coming to his dressing room for a few weeks after she and Krystal saw him in the hallway, but it was better than nothing.
But when she heard about the way girl idols treated him after everything came out a year or so later, she thought back to when she saw him with his shirt inside out and wanted to throw up. He wasn’t sleeping around, he was being harassed, he was being molested, and no one ever did anything.
She started thinking back to how other male idols would say things whenever Taemin was around her, how he would deflate when they came near them, and how sometimes they would pull him away and say it was for “guy talk.” She felt like an enabler, that she just let it happen right in front of her and didn’t do anything.
“We all did, though,” Krystal told her one night. “No one did anything. We all saw it right in front of us, we just didn’t think it was actually happening.”
“I heard one of the managers say it had been going on since their Amigo promotions,” Amber said. “How could it go on that long and no one ever noticed?”
“He was good at hiding it,” she said. “They all were.”
“That’s what they say,” Krystal said. “Jongin said even he didn’t know about it. Jongin is his best friend, and if he didn’t know about any of it, how would anyone know if it had started up again?”
Amber shook her head, not knowing what else to say.
When her phone dinged a couple minutes later, she looked at it and laughed.
Would you maybe wanna get dinner with me this week?
“I think he’s okay,” Amber said, showing Krystal the text.
Krystal snorted, “Please keep count of how many dad jokes he makes.”
Amber laughed and fell back against the couch while telling Taemin they should get dinner that Wednesday.
“The best part about his dad jokes is that he doesn’t even realize they’re dad jokes,” she said.
“He’s a walking dad joke.”
“That’s what I love about him.”
After they got dinner that Wednesday, Taemin and Amber walked around for a little bit. When it got a bit colder, Taemin took his jacket off and smiled.
“What do you get when you cross a cow and a goat?” Taemin asked.
“I don’t know, what?”
“A coat,” Taemin said with a grin, and he held his jacket out for Amber to put on.
Amber could only laugh and put her arms through the jacket, and she smiled the entire rest of the night.
In child star au, when does Taemin finally get out of his rebellion stage? Also, does he ever get attention in the media for his dating life?
by the time he’s like 21-22, he’s stopped with the rebellious shit. he’s grown up, got a bit of a reality check from kibum, and stopped acting like a little jackass. plus, he hated all the negative press he was getting, so he decided to shape up. that’s when he starts going on auditions for more stable acting jobs, and then he eventually gets a job on a crime show that’s been around for a couple years and he stays there for a good ten years maybe, with a fair few movie gigs in between seasons.
as for his dating life, he doesn’t have much of one until he’s like 20. however, he’s best friends with kai, who was his neighbor when he was growing up and they’ve just stayed best friends ever since. they used to get photographed together all the time, and a lot of people thought they were dating. taemin never gave a real answer as to whether or not they were dating, just because he thought it was funny, but when he’s like 18 he finally tells people “he’s literally just my best friend please stop.” but from the time he’s like 13, everyone thinks they’re a cute lil couple. it’s totally wrong though and they get a good laugh out of it, and sometimes kai would put his arm around taemin’s shoulders when they were in public, or they would hold hands or whatever as a joke just to see if it would end up online or in a tabloid by the next day or week or whatever.
he starts seriously dating amber when he’s about 22, and they end up getting married a few years later.
I too is a part of the taember together forever club and I kinda imagine that in high school, amber has finally cut off her hair and taemin has his lucifer/sherlock long hair and they're this chill couple who goes to the skate park for dates. Maybe the friend group overall has crazy colored hair that changes a lot bc Krystal practices hair dye techniques on them or something. I feel like Taember would be that Cool couple to ppl who don't know them but they're actually just two dorks lol
uwuwuwuwu taember are so cute so adorable so great
but as for like their hair lmao the school i’m thinking of for them has like strict dress codes and like dying your hair crazy colors is Not Allowed like it has to be a Natural Colo. so like, they can dye their hair like brown and shit, but they never really go too crazy with it
also in like high school, i see taemin as having like hair about the length of hello-era lol. like it’s not too long because then he’ll get in trouble, so it’s just long enough that he can’t get a detention for it lmao
and amber of course has her cute lil haircut and taemin loves it he thinks she looks so cute and he laughs sometimes like “we probably look the same from the back” “shut up ur weird” “but it’s cute!!!”
taemin loves being a Cute Couple
and like their lil group is kinda like idk they’re very musical/artistic and shit, like jonghyun and taemin always write songs together and they kind of have a lil band?? like ravi plays drums, taemin plays the keyboard and sings uwu, jonghyun plays bass and sings, and kai plays the guitar and uwuwuwuwuwuu cute lil shitty teenage band. amber and krystal sing sometimes, but they mostly just go for moral support
but yeah like amber and taemin look like a Cool Couple to other students who don’t really know them, but within their own lil group, they’re very Dorky and Nerdy and just so dumb and they don’t understand why everyone thinks they’re such an Amazing Couple
“you guys literally watched cartoons and ate cereal as a date once”
“yeah and it was fucking great excuse u”
“i don’t get why everyone thinks you guys are so Hot”
“because we ARE”
“ur both so dumb”
“and ur so annoying goodbye we’re gonna go to my place and watch cartoons and eat ice cream and ur not invited see u tomorrow lmao”
and uwuwuwuwuwu they just walk to the student parking lot holding hands and being Cute uwuwuwuuwuwu meanwhile the rest of their lil friends are just watching them leave like omg
I like the idea of Taemin and Amber together A LOT, bc I feel like they would be very supportive of each other in a very important time in their life. Like Amber would teach him to love himself and slowly chip away at the insecurities his parents gave him and he would be supportive of jet tomboyish style and stuff. Idk if it makes any sense but they're a good match, both as friends and romantically!
omg yes
like if the two of them are on a lil “date” aka hanging out together at amber’s house, they’ll be like in her room (”WITH THE DOOR OPEN YOUNG LADY”) and sitting on her bed or the floor or whatever like doing homework or studying or something and she just
“hey ur really good at history can u help me with this”
“oh uh yeah sure” and he just like leans over and looks at what question she’s on and then !!!! “this one’s easy ‘cause it was right at the beginning of the chapter do u remember what happened last chapter??? it’s like caused directly by that so all u gotta remember is the dude’s name see???”
or some bullshit like that idk i don’t remember 7th grade history homework lmao
and she’ll help him with math and they both just help each other out
and then like maybe after they’re “boyfriend/girlfriend” amber asks “what would u think if i cut my hair”
“i think you’d look cute”
“do i not look cute now??”
“you do, but you’d look cute even if u had no hair”
and she just blushes like oh thanks and taemin just grins like “ur pretty no matter what”
“what if i cut my hair kinda like jonghyun’s”
“it would look better on u than on jonghyun that’s for sure”
and she just laughs and then maybe like a couple weeks later she gets the courage to cut her hair like to her shoulders and taemin just
“i thought u wanted it shorter”
“i did but not yet”
“oh okay. well it looks nice” and he just uwu is so cute
and maybe kisses her on the cheek when he knows jinki isn’t looking
Oh, I love your middle school au! ^///^ It's so lovely and cute! Thank you for it. Can you tell us more about Taems first crush or first girl/boyfriend? and does jinki like... watch over them at school?
so taemin and amber, once they hit 7th grade, become a “couple” with tons of poking and prodding from kai and krystal and jonghyun and ravi
jinki is disgusted also he watches them like a fucking hawk
like at first he just thinks taemin’s being extra weird at school and he doesn’t really pay much attention to it, but then one day when he’s got yard duty during lunch, he sees taemin and amber HOLDING HANDS and he fucking LOSES HIS SHIT
“EXCUSE ME TAEMIN WHAT IS THIS”
and taemin immediately pulls away from amber and just “what’s what”
“THIS WHAT IS THIS” and jinki just wiggles his finger in a circle around taemin and amber and taemin just shrugs like
“idk what ur talking about”
“PDA IS AGAINST THE RULES TAEMIN”
“I’M NOT DOING ANYTHING”
and jinki knows he’s got no firm evidence so he just kinda narrows his eyes and “i’ve got my eyes on you, kid”
“you’re a creep”
“i have a detention slip with ur name on it”
“u literally always say that. u say that at home. it’s lost its threat-factor, just fyi”
“watching u”
so jinki just narrows his eyes even further before walking away. he keeps a very close watch on taemin. he notices that taemin and amber don’t get too close to each other for the rest of the lunch period
so naturally when they get home and when gwiboon gets home, jinki sits the three of them down in the living room while he’s got minho preoccupied with a puzzle or some bullshit in another room and just
“i think it’s time we set some rules about dating”
“jinki wtf he’s 12″
“GWIBOON I SAW HIM HOLDING HANDS WITH A GIRL”
and gwiboon just gets a huge smirky grin on her face and turns her head to taemin like “ooooOOOooOoooOOoh is this true?????”
and taemin just scoffs like “your husband is crazy”
“is my crazy husband telling the truth, though?”
and she just sits super close to taemin and pulls him close and intimidates him into telling her and taemin just whines and rolls his eyes and just
“omg fine okay me and amber are boyfriend and girlfriend”
“I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE SO CUTE”
“GWIBOON THIS IS SERIOUS HE’S 12″
“HE’S A LITTLE PLAYER, HE’S JUST LIKE ME”
“i’m getting very mixed signals here and i don’t appreciate it”
“do you even know what it means to be boyfriend and girlfriend????”
so taemin just rolls his eyes at jinki and scoffs like “uh yeah it means we hold hands at school and that she brings me those cookies i like in her lunch and i give her half my sandwich every day”
“THIS IS SO ADORABLE”
“GWIBOON”
“we also hold hands when we go to the movies and the mall with all our friends”
“have you kissed her????” gwiboon is just so excited
“GWIBOON” taemin is so embarrassed now
so jinki gets all in taemin’s face all serious and just “have u kissed her?”
“NO”
“GOOD cus ur too young to be kissing people!!!!”
“why am i too young??? i like her!!!”
“you shouldn’t be kissing until you’re at least 16″
“BUT THAT’S SO FAR AWAY”
“lol sorry too bad”
“what if she kisses me”
“then i’m giving u both detention”
“WHAT IF IT’S NOT AT SCHOOL”
“THEN I’M LOCKING U IN UR ROOM UNTIL YOU’RE 30″
“GWIBOON HELP ME”
“i’m sorry this is just too cute taeminnie you’re so adorable omg i want your little girlfriend to come have dinner at our house omg this is so cute”
“you’re both horrible”
“i think taemin shold be allowed to have his little girlfriend so long as we get to have a nice family dinner with her,” gwiboon insists, and she smiles in that scary way that makes jinki and taemin both just nod like okay yes we’ll do whatever u say
and they have dinner all together and minho just thinks taemin has a friend over so he doesn’t really give a shit but gwiboon is so happy and smiley the whole time because she loves amber anyway also she can tell that amber is nervous especially probably since she’s eating dinner at her teacher’s house with her “boyfriend” and so she wants her to be as comfortable as possible
meanwhile jinki is just so unhappy and disgusted like ugh ur 12 you shouldn’t be dating i Do Not Approve
but they let taemin “date” her nonetheless, jinki just keeps an extremely close eye on the two at school. very close. he practically stalks them also they’re both in the same period for when he teaches them and the minute he finds out they’re a little “couple” he changes the seating chart and lmao taemin is on one side of the classroom and amber is on the other
taemin totally notices and totally gives him shit for it once class is over
jinki plays dumb
taemin smacks him and tells him he’s the worst and then goes to his next class mumbling under his breath about horrible, meddling brother-in-laws
