Chapter 1
Dahlia tripped, her foot catching on the curb, the sidewalk baking slowly in the heat. She straightened herself, glancing around casually to see if anyone had noticed, and started to walk on.
"Hey, can you hold on?" a strange voice called after Dahlia.
She turned slowly, silently hoping that it wasn't someone laughing at her fall. She was startled to see a middle aged woman in a business suit. Her face was taut, her clothes askew. She looked rushed.
"You look responsible. Can you do me a HUGE favour? Before you say no, you will be paid well for your service. Come on." She spoke in a whirlwind.
Before she knew it Dahlia was whisked into a nearby building. As they were traveling up in an elevator, the woman began to clarify her emergency.
"I have some people I need you to watch," she says. "Kind of like babysitting. I have business to attend to, and I need you to keep them out of trouble. I bet you can handle them, they're about your age. I warn you, they're a little strange, but you look responsible," she says again, and Dahlia wonders if that is a complement or not.
The elevator doors open, and the woman points down the hall. "Just go all the way down and into that last door. They'll be in there. I would go with you, but I'm in a hurry."
With that the elevator doors closed and Dahlia was left alone in the hall. She walked slowly to the indicated door, wondering how she got caught up in this.
She sighed faintly and pushed open the door.
Dahlia slowly peered around the room. It was big and…roomy. There was another door on the other end of the room that was slightly ajar. She heard voices coming from the adjacent room and guessed that that was where her wards were.
She walked awkwardly to the door. Through it she could see five people hanging around a bunch of couches in the center of the room. They seemed to be having a heated discussion.
Dahlia, feeling slightly bolder, stepped in and cleared her throat. Five faces turned toward her. In that moment, Dahlia's heart seemed to freeze and she felt a sense of disbelief.
Sitting around the table on the couches were the members of SHINee.
Dahlia's hands flew to her face and she thanked God with all of her soul for the moment.
Jonghyun, being the gentlemanly flirt he is, immediately stood and went straight to Dahlia.
"Hello, Hello! Are you the dongsaeng Manager was supposed to send?"
His Korean accent nearly made Dahlia swoon. "I think so." Dahlia said.
Immediately the remaining members surrounded her.
"You look very nice," said Taemin, the Maknae.
Minho stood close to Taemin, looking a bit nervous but not saying anything. Onew stood quickly, his face beaming as he tripped over the corner of the couch, his limbs flailing crazily in the air. He stood again quickly, hurrying over to where Dahlia stood, trying not to blush as the members sang "Onew sangtae!"
Dahlia smiled graciously, her heart racing and her only thoughts being, "Ohmigosh they're here and I'm here, they're beautiful, why aren't they in Korea and will I get to hear them sing?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice clearing its throat as she had earlier.
She looked up to see The Almighty Key standing in front of her impatiently. "Why isn't dongsaeng looking at me?" Key demanded loudly. He was pouting.
"Key," Minho chides. "Don't say such things."
"I don't think dongsaeng likes me," Key says.
"Oh, trust me I do," Dahlia says, mentally face-palming afterwards.
Key got a sly smile on his face and took Dahlia by the hand. "Good!" He proclaimed loudly. "Then she can be on Jonghyun and my team." He looks smug.
"That's not fair," says Onew. "We want a pretty dongsaeng on out team too."
Taemin nods his head furiously and Dahlia tries not to blush again. Suddenly she thinks of something she should have done FAR FAR earlier.
She whips out her phone and punches in a number. "I think I can fix that," She says.
The phone rings twice.
"'Ello Govna!" says the voice on the other end.
"I need you to come over here. I'm with SHINee, and I need your help."
"I'm always happy to help a lady in need. So where are you really?"
"I'm telling the truth." Dahlia gave the voice directions.
"I'll be over soon, but if you're lying I'll strangle you with your own underwear. And I'll force you to be attacked by my leg."
Dahlia laughed.
"I promise I'm not lying," she says, and then hangs up the phone.
She turns and realizes Key is still holding her hand. She shyly tries to let go, but her muscles refuse. "NO WAY" They scream at her. "Do you realize we're touching Key!" She gives up because she knows it's a losing argument.
Key tugs her arm and leads her to the couches. There's a coffee table in the middle. It's littered with scraps of paper, some pens, and a blue laptop that's closed.
Key lets go of her hand and sits down.
Dahlia's muscles weep, and sits across from him.
"What're you doing? Sit next to me," Key says, patting the space next to him. Dahlia does as he says and Jonghyun sits on the other side of her, casually draping his arm on the back of the couch.
Onew and Taemin look disgruntled. Minho sits with Onew and Taemin across from Dahlia, Jonghyun, and Key.
"There, now the teams are split up."
"What are we playing?" asks Dahlia.
"A punishment game," Key says wickedly. Dahlia feels slightly frightened at his ominous tone.
"We can't start without our dongsaeng!" Taemin protests. At just that moment the doorbell rings.
Dahlia lunges up to get it. She strides quickly to the door, opening it quickly.
"S'bout time," says Audrey, an eyebrow arched. "So what's really up?"
Dahlia merely steps aside to give Audrey a better look into the room.
"Hubba hubba," Audrey says, her eyebrows spazzing up and down. "If you'll excuse me, I've got some serious business to attend to." She pretends to push her sleeves up and walks in past Dahlia with a fake air of swagger, but straightens herself before the members of SHINee can see her.
Dahlia laughs, shutting the door and returning to her original seat.
When Audrey arrives, Onew and Taemin brighten considerably, while Minho looks more nervous and shy than ever.
There are already three people on Audrey's team's couch, so there's a struggle to fit her in.
"You'll have to squeeze in between me and Minho," admits Taemin.
Audrey rolls her eyes around to meet Dahlia's, and speaking in a tone meant to imply something, says, "I don't think I'll mind one bit."
Dahlia works hard to stifle laughter.
"Let's start the game," says Jonghyun, and Key nods in agreement. Audrey sits between Taemin and Minho, poker face in full go.
After Audrey stops acting like a pimp, Key passes out paper and pens to everyone. "Everyone has to write down a punishment for the game and then put it in the pile," He says. "Then we'll play rock-paper-scissors, and the loser has to do a random punishment."
Audrey, Key, and Jonghyun have mischievous glints in their eyes as they write. Taemin writes with innocent eyes, and Dahlia, Onew, and Minho look a bit worried while they write.
The punishments are quickly mixed, and the game proceeds.
After a few miss-starts, open cheating, and harmless flirting on Jonghyun's part, Onew finally lost.
"It was expected!" cries Onew, and he draws a punishment. "It says, 'Fill your mouth with marshmallows and say dongsaeng's name.'" Onew looks incredulous. "I can guess who wrote this one."
"It'll look so funny!" giggles Taemin.
"Let's change it so it's less stupid," says Key. "Make it, 'Fill your mouth with marshmallows and say the name of the dongsaeng you like.'
Onew sighs, but soon his mouth is full. "Fyuya."
"What?" says Jonghyun.
"FYUYA."
No one could tell whether he was saying "Dahlia" or "Audrey" so they quickly moved on. "Onew sangtae," they all murmured.
They played again and this time Taemin lost. His punishment said, "You have to dress like a girl and be my maid for today~ Audrey."
Dahlia stifled a nosebleed at the thought of Taemin as a maid.
"I can't do that!" Taemin said.
Minho's flaming charisma finally appeared and he volunteered to help Taemin get into costume. Audrey gave her hearty consent, and they disappeared.
While waiting, they played again. This time Dahlia lost. Before she could pick a punishment, Key grabbed them.
"I'll give you a punishment," he said. "You have to be my dongsaeng, and nobody else's." He fixed her with a glare and took her hand, pulling her closer to him, refusing to let go no matter how much she pulled. (Though in truth it wasn't nearly as much as she could have.) "You have to do it. It's your punishment."
His mood much improved after that. It was around then that Taemin and Minho came back. The whole room was silent for a moment, and then Jonghyun laughed and said, "This is too much!"
Taemin looked exactly like a school girl; his hair and make up were impeccable, right down to his knee socks and skirt.
Audrey patted the space between her and Onew evilly. "C'mon, sit, Taeminnie."
Taemin blushed but did as he was told. Minho sat next to Audrey again, and she instinctively nudged him. They both smiled.
Key lost this time, picking a punishment. "Sing 'Lucifer' with the dance." He looked around. "Who am I doing this for?" He asked.
Dahlia raised her hand and Key quickly complied. Dahlia felt as though she had died and gone to heaven.
Next, Minho lost. "Play the kissing paper game with your team." Minho glared at Jonghyun but they did it anyway.
Onew, Taemin, Audrey, and Minho lined up and started. Unfortunately, this sight of Taemin dressed as a girl and being expected to take the paper from him was just too much for Audrey, and she began to laugh hysterically.
Dahlia couldn't help but smirk when she saw Minho look disappointed when no paper had the chance to be passed his way.
They all started laughing.
Jonghyun finally lost. "Kiss the dongsaeng you like most."
Everyone looked slightly shocked at this. Minho shrugged when everyone looked at him.
Jonghyun sighed, stood, and finally walked over to Audrey. He started to pull her up, but Minho held the loop on the back of her pants so she snapped back into the seat.
"Seems you can't," Audrey says, not without satisfaction. She subtlety kicks Jonghyun in the leg and takes Minho's sleeve.
"I've been rejected!" Jonghyun fakes injury.
Audrey is the only one left, and she takes the last punishment. "I think I'll give this one to Dahlia," she says, handing her friend the paper.
It says, "Do a dance with Key." Scrawled next to it in Audrey's handwriting is "BAD APPLE".
Onew nods. Key stands, helping Dahlia to her feet, and the two dance to Bad Apple. The whole thing is quite embarrassing to watch.
The game is finished, and everyone is silently both relieved and disappointed. The door bell rings, and it's the manager lady from before. "I'm back! Did you have a hard time keeping them?"
Dahlia smiles. "Not really."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Then can I ask you to do it again sometime? They can get into a lot of trouble while I'm at a meeting."
Audrey waltzes over, her hand unconsciously attached to Minho's. "Madam, we would be ever so happy to."
"That's great! I'll see you tomorrow?"
"YES."
"That's great!" She says again, retreating to the back of the room.
Key comes over, a determined look on his face. He pulls a bracelet out of his pocket. "Here. I want you to have this."
Dahlia takes it, her face breaking into a beam. She sees Audrey and Minho doing the same behind her.
They leave shortly after. Walking away, Dahlia turns back to look at the building, but it is no longer there. She looks down to see the bracelet still on her arm.
She touches it and wonders if tomorrow will ever come.
Chapter 2
"Here, I want you to have this."
Dahlia fingers the bracelet that hangs on her wrist. It has been about two months since the not-quite-dream from which she had brought back the bracelet. She looked down at Audrey lying on the floor, reading OtakuUSA, feet swinging carelessly in the air.
Audrey felt Dahlia's eyes on her and looked up. "You wanna go now?" Dahlia nods and Audrey moans as she pops up off the floor.
Every day since the day they had met SHINee at that mysterious building, Dahlia and Audrey had walked past the place where Dahlia had been stopped the first time in some vain hope that something would change. There wasn't a passing day that they didn't think about it. It was a mundane little chore they had created, but to them there wasn't anything they could do that wouldn't be worth it.
The building that had been avoiding them for so long stood before them now.
Audrey grabbed Dahlia's arm, but quickly released it after Dahlia slapped her on the back of the head.
"I didn't see you being so physically distant with Key two months ago. You would rather touch Key than me?" Audrey pretended to whine.
"Yes," Dahlia said plainly.
"Fair 'nuff."
They walk slowly to the building, stepping inside and managing not to get lost. They eventually wind up in front of the door that the whole story started with.
Dahlia looks at Audrey, expecting their eyes for to meet and for them to both knock on the door at the same time in a rather slow and dramatic fashion.
Instead, she sees that Audrey had already ripped open the door and proceeded inside.
Dahlia huffed slightly, but followed her nonetheless.
The room that had before contained two couches and a table now held nothing but mounds and mounds of every variety of pillow.
After being momentarily confused, Dahlia saw that the members of SHINee were buried under the sea of pillows that littered the floor. She could see a bit of Onew's hair and could hear Taemin giggling. Audrey had disappeared as well.
"BOO!" Jonghyun goes sailing into Dahlia, knocking them both into a nearby pile of pillows. She blinks her eyes, looking up to see the face of middle-aged-manager-lady looking down at her.
"Oh good, you're here!" She smiles tersely. "You did such a good job watching them yesterday, I had hoped you would show again."
"Yesterday?" Dahlia thinks. It has been at least two months since she had come.
"Well, goodbye!" And with that the woman disappeared.
Dahlia was mildly confused, but became considerably less so when Key appeared in her line of vision. He offered his hand and Dahlia took it, letting him pull her out of the pile of pillows.
Audrey shot a pointed glare at her, but Dahlia ignored her.
"I'm glad you're back today," Key says.
"Tsundere," Minho mutters.
"Shut up," Key says.
"See?"
Key pushes Minho and he sails into a cloud of pillows.
"What are all the pillows for?"
"It was my idea!" Taemin smiles. "Key got to pick the punishment game last time, so I demanded we have pillows."
Onew picks up a pillow, aiming at Taemin but forgetting to let go. He loses his balance and plummets. No one even says anything.
Audrey pops up again, nearly smashing her forehead Jonghyun's. Minho makes a move as if to help, but quickly turns it into fixing his shirt when he sees there's nothing for him to do.
Dahlia thinks about what the lady said. Yesterday?
"Let's split into teams and build forts out of pillows. It'll be a deadly battle." Audrey's face slips into one of ultimate seriousness. "In fact, one might say it is so deadly, that it is a battle to the death."
Everyone nods in agreement, and they play rock-paper-scissors to decide team captains. Dahlia and Onew win, so they move to opposite sides of the room.
"You first," Onew says, waving.
"Okay, I pick—uh, Key!" Key looks boastful, nodding his head and walking over slowly.
"Alright," Key whispers in her ear, his breath making it tingle. "I have a plan. Pick Minho, then everyone except Audrey. He'll play like a madman that way."
Dahlia nodded, feeling a competitive evil emanate from Key.
Next, Onew picked Jonghyun. Dahlia took Minho, Onew Audrey, and all that was left was Taemin. The teams were finally divided, and so the fort-building began.
Within minutes, it was evident Key was right. Minho was an athlete after all, and so their fort was quickly taking shape as a castle.
Onew's fort looked a bit similar to an upside-down lampshade that had been stepped on.
Jonghyun was busy flirting with Audrey, pushing her over once in a while; her shrieks filled the air. Onew worked dedicatedly, but sadly his condition kept getting in the way. The sound of Audrey and Jonghyun's laughter made Minho work harder than ever.
Finally time was up, and the battle was to begin. Both sides assembled an attack plan.
"Send Minho out; victory will be easy from there."
It was true. The second the Flaming Charisma was released, the battle was won. His skill and athleticism helped him as he grabbed an armful of pillows. He took down Jonghyun, Onew practically took himself down, and Audrey was busy laughing her head off at the sight.
Taemin said, "Yay, I won!" And it was over.
After that ordeal was over, Audrey said they should have a competition to see who could build the best building. Audrey and Minho, Key and Dahlia, Jonghyun and Taemin paired. Eventually, a Wild!Leah appeared and teamed with Onew. Needless to say, they had the most fun, but their building was hideous.
Taemin and Jonghyun accomplished nothing. The two other teams gave up, and the whole activity collapsed in a spray of pillows.
After a while of just laying on the pillows, everyone fell asleep.
"How nice." The lady was back. "Looks like you did good again today. Feel free to come tomorrow."
Dahlia turned to Key, a sort of fear and confusion playing across her face. She was surprised to see Key looking mournful. "Well, I'll see you both tomorrow."
Dahlia stood to go, Audrey following her. She waved to Minho and disappeared through the door. Dahlia stepped through the door. Key hovered uncertainly, not crossing the doorway.
"Well, goodbye," He says, closing the door slowly.
Once outside, the building is gone just as before. "It could be months before we see them again!" Dahlia wails. "And only a day will have passed for them."
"You're crazy," Audrey says, walking on. Dahlia looks into the sky, dreading the waiting that is to come.
Little does she know it'll only be a week and a half this time.
Yeah, I decided to give her a break.
Chapter 3
Another week and a half passed, and the building appeared once more. Dahlia was still uneasy about the whole situation, but she found that there was no way for her to do anything about it.
Yet.
Dahlia was a little nervous today, because Audrey had to sneak out in order to come. She had, in a fit of anger, stuffed her younger brother upside-down into a trashcan. Her only argument was: "He survived…"
She had been grounded for the week and had almost not come. But looking up at the building that floated in and out of consciousness, she was glad she had.
Today the room had a kitchen in it, the biggest one Audrey or Dahlia had ever seen. Audrey grimaced slightly at the sight of it.
"What's wrong?" Dahlia asks, slightly concered.
"I always manage to just barely screw up everything I bake." She explains. "Not enough so that it isn't edible, just enough that it tastes funny and no one wants to eat it, but you can't just throw it away, so it gets eaten." She looks to the heavens, and in her mind is screaming "WHYYYYYYYY!" while outwardly pretending she's too cool for school.
Dahlia rolls her eyes.
The first person they notice is Leah, standing in the middle of the kitchen looking quite confused.
"Leah, why are you here? How did you get here?"
"I'm not sure," She says, glancing around.
"Oh yeah, I invited her. Sorry."
Dahlia tried to glance around in a casual manner.
"You looking for Key?"
Dahlia winces, and then turns pale when she hears a familiar laugh behind her. She turns to see Key laughing slightly. He coughs and says, "Have an apron."
"What?"
"Oh come on," Key takes her arm and drags her into the kitchen.
Jonghyun, Minho, Onew, Taemin, and middle-aged-manager-lady are in there. This time, the lady merely waves as she rockets out the door.
Thinking, Dahlia turns to Jonghyun. "What is her name?"
"It depends. How do you think of her?" He answers.
"I call her middle-aged-manager-lady."
"Interesting," he says, "Then that's who she is."
Dahlia shrugs at this conclusion.
Leah, Onew, and Taemin already have aprons on and are standing in the corner talking. From the looks of it, they are becoming something like the Three Musketeers, comrades for life.
Minho is wearing one as well, and is (unsuccessfully) trying to help tie the back of Audrey's. This endeavor is mostly unsuccessful due to the fact that Audrey keeps kicking Jonghyun in the leg. Their furious kicking battle is starting to get on Minho's nerves as he gives on more shot into tying the apron up.
Key hands Dahlia an apron. "You should wear this one…" The one he picked out looks more like a scrap of lace than an apron.
Dahlia smacks it out of his hands onto the floor.
He laughs and hands her an orange and pink retro-style one that is ruffly and actually quite cute. Dahlia accepts this one.
"So what are we doing today?" She asks, zipping up the back of the apron.
"We're gonna have a baking contest."
Audrey looks as though she's about to kill herself.
"Onew will be judging because no one thinks it is a good idea for him to be cooking." Many heads nod in agreement. Onew doesn't seem to mind.
"It didn't hurt my pride," he shrugs. "Because I am Onew."
Key laughs, but brings everyone back to the subject. "Anyway, we'll each partner up by random drawing then try our hardest to bake something delicious." He studies the group. "And it had to be a dessert with no fried chicken in it."
"What? Why?"
"Because that would guarantee victory. So it's cheating."
Onew looks slightly more downcast at that, but is revived by the thought of delicious desserts.
A mixing bowl with numbers is passed around, and so the teams are decided. They are: Leah and Taemin, Jonghyun and Audrey, Key and Minho, and Dahlia is all by herself.
"OK, let's get to work!"
They divide up and each go to a kitchen station. Audrey is glad she partnered with Jonghyun, because he is a surprisingly good cook. They whip up a lemon tart in no time, and are finished before everyone else. They go back to kicking each other and laughing.
The only fierce competitor is Key. He makes food for the group every day, and is very serious about it. Minho does exactly as he says, and after a while they have a plate of delicate looking pastries.
Leah and Taemin made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, but are eating them and giggling.
Dahlia was a bit disheartened by not having a partner, but she quickly gets to work. When she finally finishes, there are two cupcakes sitting there. They aren't as fancy as Key's dessert, but they are pretty dang cute. They are decorated to look like mushrooms.
"Alright, is everyone finished?" Onew asks. The teams line up at his table, holding their trays of dessert and waiting eagerly. "Leah, Taemin. You two go first."
"We made chocolate chip cookies," Taemin gives Onew a plate with only one cookie on it.
"Where are the rest?" Onew demands.
"Er, we ate them all." Leah looks sheepish.
Onew sighs, accepting the cookie and taking a bite out of it. "It's pretty good," he says. "A little too crunchy."
Next it is Dahlia's turn. She brings up her cupcakes, handing one to Onew.
"What are you gonna do with that one?" Leah asks.
Dahlia blushes, turning quickly and shoving the cupcake at Key, retreats to the back of the room. He looks startled.
Now Dahlia is just embarrassed. What was she thinking? Key can cook so well, he'll probably just hate it. She covers, pretending to be absorbed in Onew eating her cupcake.
Key, on the other hand, looks delighted and is eating her cupcake with gusto. Too bad she doesn't turn around to see it.
Onew marks it as delicious, and next Audrey and Jonghyun go. Their lemon tart tastes a bit strange according to Onew.
"Such is my curse." Audrey says with a sigh.
"I think it's cute." Jonghyun remarks. Audrey rolls her eyes and kicks him, but is secretly pleased.
As for Minho, not so much.
Key's dessert is last, and of course, is inhaled by Onew. "Tastes like home cooking," he says.
"That's because I cook for you everyday." Key retorts.
Onew shrugs again.
"I think Dahlia should win," Key says. Dahlia's head snaps up. "Her dessert was best."
Dahlia blushes again.
Too bad manager lady had to come back just then. "Oh thanks again. Boys, make sure you clean up once they leave."
Everyone sighs, but Audrey and Dahlia have to leave. "See you tomorrow!" They leave in high spirits, but are disheartened when they remember that they don't know the next time the building would appear.
Dahlia resolved to do something about it the next time it did.
Chapter 4
"Oww…" Audrey whimpers as she rubs the top of her head. She hand bent over to get the pencil she'd dropped and coming up, had banged her head on the open door of the locker above her. People rushed past in their daily routines, not noticing the girl curled up in pain.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" Dahlia was standing there, a concerned look on her face, waiting for Audrey to leave with her.
"Oh don't worry," she says, "I probably only lost half my brain cells." She rubs her head and scowls.
Dahlia decides that she's fine.
Today is a Friday, and Dahlia wants to leave. Ever since school has started, they haven't gotten to visit the building; life had been too busy. "Let's go."
"Kiss it and make it better?" Audrey makes a "thumbs up" sign.
On the way to their spot, Audrey rubs the new knot on her head that is quickly growing to join the first. "I was just joking," she mutters.
Dahlia strives to keep her serious face in place, but loses it when she sees the building standing in its place. She fairly runs to it, as it has been 3 months since the last visit.
She felt a sense of discomfort settle into her stomach. The inhabitants of the building experience a different type of time? She couldn't figure it out.
Audrey and Dahlia were obviously getting older, and it bothered her to see the members look exactly the same time after time. Dahlia was now 17, and Audrey was 16. So much had happened.
The elevator clicked open and both the girls stepped out into the hall, walking to the well known door. They walked in without knocking this time.
"Hello," Key stands there, holding what appears to be a telephone.
"What is that for?" Audrey asks.
Key smiles. "Guess what we're doing today?"
Audrey's eyes light up and she knows what is coming.
Dahlia's eyes widen. "Prank calls?" Her stomach flips, and Key grins wickedly.
"You got it." Shifting his telephone to one arm, he grabs Dahlia's arm with the other.
Audrey nearly leaps past them once the door is flung open, and Dahlia gasps.
There were about 10 tables, each of them crammed with telephones of every shape, colour, and size. They were stacked, smashed, and practically sliding off the tables.
Dahlia was partially concerned for their fate.
"Here's how it works. Every phone is directly connected to a number, so you won't need to find some number to call. That's all taken care of." Dahlia looks slightly relieved at that statement. "We won't exactly be splitting into teams…but you're coming with me."
He grabs Dahlia and runs off, leaving Audrey with Onew, Jonghyun, Taemin, and Minho.
"Hey, let's get started!" She picks up the handle of the first phone she sees; a white slightly older model. Without hesitation, she picks it up and waits for someone to answer.
"Hello?" The voice belongs to an older sounding woman.
"Ahem, hallo." Her voice takes on an annoying accent, a different manner of speech. Onew's eyebrow arches up in surprise and Minho seems slightly concerned that she's having no trouble so far.
"Excuse me, but who is this?" The voice inquires.
"I'm Deborah. Deborah Debb." Taemin giggles and Jonghyun snorts. "Mightn't I ask who has answered this phone?" She has lost her mannerisms, completely transforming into this new character.
"This is Sarah Hopkins. Who are you exactly, and why are you calling?" the woman's voice takes on a tone of discomfort.
"Why I told you, my name is—wait, are you insinuating that you don't know who I am? I have never—," her voice takes on a tone of 'panic.' "Anyway, I am calling from the Zebra Emporium. I swear I talked to you just last week…well, your order has been in, and you never picked it up."
"The Zebra Emporium?"
"Yes ma'am, the Zebra Emporium carries everything to support your various zebra related needs. Anyway, we just need you to swing by our location in Branson to secure the bedspread you ordered—in zebra print of course."
"Uh…" The woman processes. "Of course. I'll send my husband down to get it tomorrow."
Audrey grins. "It was nice doing business with you. Have a beautiful and zebra filled day!"
"I will! Goodbye!" The voice is much warmer now and it is obvious she believed every word Audrey said.
Meanwhile, Dahlia and Key were on the far opposite of the room, engaged in their own situation. It turns out that neither one of them really wanted to prank call anyone at the moment, so they sat down and started talking.
"Key, there's something I wanna ask you about," Dahlia starts.
Key shrugs. "What?"
"Can you explain everything to me? Why is our time different? Why does the building disappear? Why does no one know about you? And why can't you leave?" Her words pour from her mouth, filling the room.
Key's eyes are wide. He makes a feeble attempt to laugh it off, but then decides to tell her the truth. "Well, I'll answer your questions and then I'll try to fit them together to make sense." He shifts into a different position. "The time is different because there is no time."
Dahlia looks skeptical.
"Time is just a definition people accept as true. There is no 'time.' Humans merely created it and its label to be able to better communicate things." He sighs. "I guess the simple answer is that, we, not having time, do not have a reference point for knowing how long it has been for you, the people who imagine time. For us, a new day begins when you visit."
Dahlia waves for him to keep going.
"The building doesn't disappear; it merely doesn't exist in the first place. Sort of."
She is confused again.
"You need a physical manifestation to get you here, so the building is momentarily provided. Simple enough?"
"Erm no, but keep going." She is fascinated.
"Okay, next question. It's not that the others don't know about us, it's that to the others we don't exist."
"There's a lot of non-existing going on here."
"But we do! It's just under certain conditions. It's all in the science." He shifts again. "And lastly, we can't leave because we don't exist outside of this room."
"More non-existing!" Dahlia's voice has a sing-song tone.
"I'm gonna wrap it up here. So basically, it's like this. We exist only so long as you visit us. We only exist in certain conditions, as I told you. These conditions just happen to be you. The day you choose to stop coming is the day we all die." His throat sounds dry. "Middle-aged-manager-lady is here to make sure of that. But it will have been enough."
"What do you mean?"
Just then, a strike of laughter rips across the room, and Key stands to go join the rest of the group.
Taemin, Audrey, Jonghyun, Onew, Minho, and Key now stand on the other side of the room laughing, and Dahlia feels very small and insignificant.
Key's every word had ripped her mind into pieces. She coughs.
A shadow gathers by the door, and Dahlia knows it's time to go.
Back on the street Dahlia turns to Audrey. I have something to tell you, she thinks.
Chapter 5
"It will have been enough."
The words echoed around the inside of Dahlia's head. She wasn't quite sure what he meant, but then again, yesterday had been full of things she didn't understand.
One thing was certain; she had a minimal grasp of what was going on. Dahlia had repeated every word Key said to Audrey. She had easily accepted everything as truth, but Dahlia was having a harder time.
There had been a surprising amount of apparitions by the building lately. It seemed that the more the two girls understood, the easier it was for the building to take hold in existence.
The outdoor air was getting colder with each passing day. The two girls walked a little faster, the needling air chasing them along.
Audrey shoves her fists as far down in her coat pockets as they would go. She breathes out as long, hard, and warm as she can, her breath forming a little cloud. As soon as it clears, the building is visible.
Audrey smiles at the sky, the joy of fall invading her body.
Once inside M.A.M.L. brushes past Dahlia as she leaves. Dahlia gets a chill. She doesn't dislike her, and isn't afraid of her, it's just that Dahlia now knows what her purpose is. Audrey merely glares at her receding back.
"I'm so glad you came back."
Dahlia's throat feels blocked with tears. Every time she hears his voice again it's confirmation that her nightmares dwell only in the dark. Ever since he had explained everything to her, she fears for the members often.
Audrey's theory was that they would disappear only when they had been forgotten, or if the girls found something more important. Dahlia shuddered at the thought.
"Of course we came." She was slightly excited to see what the room held today. It was different every time.
There had been bubbles, dogs, a giant game of twister, and even painting before. Today there would be something new, fun, and more importantly, distracting.
The room contained a circle of color. At least, that was what it looked like at first. There were 2 rows of desks facing the back of the room. In front of them were a whiteboard and a larger desk. The blinding color came from a pile of multi-hued uniforms sitting in front of the door.
"What is this…?"
"We will be in school today." He smirks in a most attractive way. "Hurry and pick a uniform."
Audrey laughs and goes to the pile, picking a uniform that consists of a red blazer, short pleated skirt, and white knee socks. A school badge resides over the breast pocket, reading, "Shining Academy—Brighten!"
Dahlia takes a little longer to get situated. She had a little complaint about each one. Either the skirt was too short, the sleeves too long, or the color too bright.
Key rolls his eyes. Marching over, he shoves a uniform at her and practically throws her in the bathroom to get dressed.
"Your glasses go good with the uniform," Jonghyun remarks.
"Thanks…stereotypical much?" Audrey mumbles under her breath.
Everyone is finally dressed. "Who is the teacher?" Dahlia asks.
"I am, of course. You can call me Oppa."
Taemin and Onew cough.
Key heads to the front of the class, standing in front of the whiteboard. "First, I will assign seats."
There were two rows of three desks. The first row from left to right was Jonghyun, Minho, and Dahlia. The second was Onew, Audrey, Taemin. Dahlia's desk was directly in front of the "teacher's" desk, and she had a sneaking suspicion that it was intentional.
"Now, I'm going to be honest with you class," Key has already begun his role as teacher. "Not much learning is going to happen in this school. So it's break time. Remember to follow the rules. If I see any rule breaking, you will be punished accordingly." He leans back in his chair, a fake pair of glasses on his nose.
Dahlia doesn't remember him mentioning any rules, but she goes along with it. "How long is the break?"
"I told you to follow the rules without room for error. You have to raise your hand to ask questions. Now I have to punish you." He strokes his chin as though he has a goatee. "Your punishment is…" More stroking of his imaginary beard. "You have to stay for lunch detention with me." He looks smug and Dahlia doesn't think it's much of a punishment.
Audrey laughs in an obnoxious way. She is glad she got her seat, as it's the best one. She turns to Taemin, straightening her skirt. She observes his adorable nature in the uniform.
"So…wanna overthrow the teacher yet?"
He giggles. "Let's prank him instead."
"I have an idea!" She smirks evilly at the chair in front of her, as does Minho. Taemin merely looks excited.
After the prank is set up, Key comes back from "lunch detention" with Dahlia.
"Looks like they had fun."
Everyone laughs. A glaring epidemic starts up. All the while Dahlia just sits blushing at her desk, her head buried in her stretched out arms.
"Teacher's pet."
Dahlia gets hit in the back of the head with a piece of eraser, and she sighs loudly as Key says, "You can clean out the whiteboard erasers later."
Dahlia doesn't appreciate his obvious abuse. She stands and goes to the front of class. Key sits in his chair smugly.
That's when it all begins.
Audrey yanks the line wrapped around the back of the file cabinet and tied to Key's chair. It rockets across the room, smashing into Dahlia and getting wedged in the corner.
Key and Dahlia blink, realizing they are completely entangled and stuck in the corner. There is a violent struggle to get free, and the room falls apart in laughter.
"We could've just stayed like that." Key states twenty minutes later.
Dahlia just slaps him.
Audrey is crying, her gasps for air coming out as a frantic noise. Taemin's face is shocked but smiling.
"That's it!" The handprint on Key's face glows. "Class is dismissed! Go home!" He covers the warm spot on his face and retreats to his desk. Audrey laughs but complies. Everyone slowly filters through the doorway and into the main room.
Eventually only Dahlia and Key remain. She approaches him.
"Are you really mad?" Her voice is hesitant.
"No, just mildly embarrassed." He surprises her by suddenly hugging her. She freezes, her body turning rigid, but she doesn't slap him this time. "Thank you." He says.
Her curiosity takes over. "Key, what did you mean…'It will have been enough'?"
"It means that meeting you will have been enough. Death doesn't frighten me so much anymore."
He pulls back and kisses her softly.
On the way back home, Dahlia thinks about what happened. She had not even thought of slapping him that time. She smiles and brings a hand to her face.
"It's snowing!" Audrey cries.
Startled, Dahlia looks up just as a snowflake lands on the tip of her nose. Farther up in the sky, it is a solid white color mixed with grey.
"A storm is coming," Dahlia breathes.
Chapter 6
"Did you get the email?"
"Yeah, can you believe they want us to work for four hours?" Audrey and Dahlia's pointless conversation rolls on. "The teachers at his school keep calling me."
"Yeah, Haru's school in Japan, too, ugh."
A bit later, Dahlia waves to Audrey and Haru as they retreat to their car. They will be flying back to Japan tomorrow, and it saddened her to see them go. It was funny how schools worked in America and Japan, comparatively.
Dahlia shuts the door, the screen clanging in an annoying way. Loneliness sets in and Dahlia finds herself walking to the bathroom. Opening the drawer, she takes out the bracelet.
She runs her finger over its bumpy surface. The chair she sat in creaks as she leans back and sighs. Putting it away, she dresses for work.
She's busy replanting some flowers in the middle of her shift when Sam, Dahlia's sister, and Cody, Sam's husband, find her. Sam is dragging their son behind them.
He runs forward to hug Dahlia.
"Hi, Michael!" Once he lets go, she chides him. "Now you're all dirty! I was working. By the way, I was just telling my friend about your school. You know; the one that lives in Japan?"
He nods shyly.
"We were just stopping to say hello since we were here." Sam says.
After they leave, Dahlia wraps up her work.
Getting in the car, she smiles at the retreating sight of Disneyland.
Rounding the corner, she screeches her car to a stop.
Can it be? It's been 13 years…
She quickly enters the building, using the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator, taking them two at a time. The hall flies past her. The door stands before her.
Her breathing is short; her hand shakes, rattling the handle of the door.
It swings open, light flooding the hallway.
"Welcome back." The voice says.
"I never gave you up."