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.Â
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.Â
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, âHeâs doing it because heâs got the biggest gosh dang crush on you and itâs honestly embarrassing. Both of you are so embarrassing. Him because heâs trying so hard, and you because youâre so oblivious.â
The whole âTaemin has a crush on Amberâ thing started around Lucifer promotions, and by Everybody promotions, it was just so bad. He liked her so much, and she didnât 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 didnât want to say anything because he didnât 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.Â
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.
âTaemin?â Krystal asked. âAre you alright?â
âMmhmm,â Taemin hummed, his voice higher than usual. âFine.â
âYour shirtâs inside-out,â Amber told him. âAre you sure youâre okay?â
âIs it? Oh,â Taemin said, ignoring the last question. âStylist mustâve messed up. Didnât notice. Iâll, uh, see you later, I gotta, um, go.â
He hurried down the hall to go back to the dressing room.
She thinks Iâm easy, she thinks I just fuck girls backstage and donât even bother to put my shirt back on right, she thinks Iâm disgusting, he thought to himself.
He was out of it for a few days after that. He didnât really want to talk to anyone, he didnât bring Amber any waters or any snacks, and he didnât tell her any dumb jokes like he usually did. He thought she didnât 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 didnât 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.Â
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 wasnât 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 âguy talk.â She felt like an enabler, that she just let it happen right in front of her and didnât do anything.
âWe all did, though,â Krystal told her one night. âNo one did anything. We all saw it right in front of us, we just didnât think it was actually happening.â
âI heard one of the managers say it had been going on since their Amigo promotions,â Amber said. âHow could it go on that long and no one ever noticed?â
âHe was good at hiding it,â she said. âThey all were.â
âBut heâs okay now, right?â Amber asked. âItâs stopped?â
âThatâs what they say,â Krystal said. âJongin said even he didnât know about it. Jongin is his best friend, and if he didnât know about any of it, how would anyone know if it had started up again?â
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?
âI think heâs okay,â Amber said, showing Krystal the text.
Krystal snorted, âPlease keep count of how many dad jokes he makes.â
Amber laughed and fell back against the couch while telling Taemin they should get dinner that Wednesday.
âThe best part about his dad jokes is that he doesnât even realize theyâre dad jokes,â she said.Â
âHeâs a walking dad joke.â
âThatâs what I love about him.â
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.
âWhat do you get when you cross a cow and a goat?â Taemin asked.
âI donât know, what?â
âA coat,â 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.
