Baekhyun’s breathtaking back hug made Taeyeon’s heart race crazily. The feelings that took over her whole body, the shaking heart, the electricity that went down on her spine, she felt everything with a bodywreking intensity. The way Baekhyun was holding into her tightly was giving her hope and confidence. She took the courage to turn to him and looked directly into his brown eyes. His concerned, but loving stare made her feel at ease, it made her feel like breathing again. Having him by her side is everything she wishes for and she couldn’t feel more grateful that he doesn’t want to leave her side, that he trusts her, that even now, he is showing so much love to her.

Taeyeon buried her little head in Baekhyun’s chest, fitting perfectly as he once said. The next thing he knows, her silent tears were wetting his shirt.  No words were exchanged between the two of them, but there was no need of them anyway.

*

‘Hello everyone, this is Shin Hyo Sub, on my stage name, Crush.

On 1^st of March, photos of Kim Taeyeon and I at the after party of my solo concert were released on main news sites, together with the implying that we form a couple. I would like to start with denying this statement and assuring everyone there isn’t any type of romantic relationship between the two of us.

I also have to make a confession. The intimate moments released weren’t at all mutual and it was my attempt of hitting on her when drunk. I have already apologized privately to Miss Kim Taeyeon and I would like to do it publicly too. I am sincerely sorry for making her feel uncomfortable at the party and for creating her trouble; she was innocent and I assume all the blame for this scandal.  Other people that deserve my apology are the fans whom must be disappointed with me.

 I shall reflect about my wrong doings and promise I’ll continue my hard work as low key as possible. ‘

‘Heol, I can’t believe the kid have just said that publicly! Ameoba and us were already setting to release the couple confirmation!’ Kim Young Min says completely surprised at what he had just read.

‘The situation is already bad enough, now his company is going to venture onto him even harder. They are said to pretty harsh and controlling too.’ Taeyeon says sounding a little concerted.

‘Don’t pity him too much,’ Young Min says ‘it’s his fault for getting drunk and then trying to touch popular girls without them allowing him to. He can’t control himself, he deserves it! Just be happy he cleared your name!’

‘I guess you are right, but I’m still feeling a little bad for him…’

‘You know what I don’t understand?’ Baekhyun says and both Taeyeon and YoungMin look at him curiously.

‘What?’ the other two ask in unison.

‘How come those reporters didn’t talk to you about it beforehand?’ he turns to the boss. ’They always talk to us before releasing any dating news. No matter that we agree on releasing them or not, they always let us know before doing anything official. How come nobody said anything this time around?’ 

‘Now that you’re saying, it’s strange indeed …’ Taeyeon says.

‘That’s actually a good point, kiddo!’ Young Min confirms. ‘I’ve talked about it together with the CEO of Ameoba and none of us received any warning. ‘The fact’ is usually a trustable tabloid, but this time around the sources they used are pretty ambiguous. It is obviously that they didn’t discover the news by themselves and the photos were just being sold to them. With that being said, there is someone that leaked this information to them, someone who potentially wants to destroy your image…’

Taeyeon looked at him surprised.

‘Crush said he can’t think of anyone that would target him. What about you, Taeyeon-shi? Do you think there is someone who would do something like that? There’s someone you suspect? ’

‘Taeyeon suddenly got goosebumps at his words. The situation was getting even more serious than she initially thought it would.

‘I know I do have a lot of haters…but there isn’t any single person that crosses my mind that would do something like that!’

‘Also, Dispatch reporter coming to us just one day before everything. Isn’t it strange too? Don’t you think it was just meant to distract us?’

‘Seriously, who would have done something like this? It’s horrible!’ Baekhyun says.

Goosbumps everywhere.

‘You shouldn’t worry that much though. We are looking into the situation and trying to find the real source of the news. I hope it is not the case of someone targeting you specifically. We will announce you when we find something interesting!’

Taeyeon was still shaking at the realization that there might be someone stalking her and attempting to ruin her carrier. Baekhyun saw her and his hands found her sides showing his support. She came closer to his body and he hugged her torso. She was finding his stare…

‘YAH!’ Kim Young Min says. ‘Yesterday you were being all overdramatic, now you’re displaying affection in front of me. Get out of my office!’

‘Ok, sir! Thank you for everything!’ Baekhyun says brightly and he leaves the room with Taeyeon, his hand holding on her back.

For some reason, Kim Young Min smiled when he saw them leaving together. And maybe it was the first time in a while Taeyeon didn’t leave his office fully hating on him (even if he was about to get her into another fake dating scandal, wtf?).

*

Taeyeon and her family members, sans her older brother, Jiwoong, who couldn’t get a free day from his work, they were all at a fancy restaurant. She paid a lot for the extremely private room they were in; for a star like her, it’s almost impossible to go anywhere without people take a notice on you and then spread questionable things on the Internet. She was happy that she found this place with the help of her stylist, it was really comfortable and chill, just how she liked it.

The atmosphere between the family members was good, they were all dressed prettily, kind of formal, drinking some fine wine and having a good time overall. The occasion is that, today is Taeyeon’s birthday and she spends it as she does every year, treating her family.

She is really thankful for having such a family and she wants them to know that, that’s why instead of celebrating her birthday at whatever club, she just wants to see everyone and assure there is everything going well for them all. Her parents were very supporting, always, they trusted in her and supported her to keep her dream alive. The harmonious relationship between her parents, the way they knew to maintain a healthy relationship with the kids, her siblings that she got along with despite all their childish confrontation, she was deeply grateful for having them.

They were discussing cheerfully, but the mother couldn’t help but notice something wrong with Taeyeon who was checking her phone all the time, looking a little concerned.

‘There’s something wrong, sweetie?’ the mom asked.

‘No, mom, it’s just…’

Taeyeon didn’t get to answer, that the door of their private room opened and a young man entered it.  A smile crept on Taeyeon’s face when she saw Baekhyun in the frame, looking hella fine in his black suite and blue shirt and carrying two flower bouquets together with a present bag. His bare face was a mix of manly and child-like features, but handsome nevertheless; his messy black hair and his shirt that matched perfectly her deep blue dress, everything about his outfit looked classy and extremely well thought.

 He approached the Kims’ table with a bright but nervous smile, as all the people at the table stood up in shock, except of Taeyeon who was watching proudly at his shining entrance.

He came near his girlfriend and she held into his arm and smiled at him while her parents were left with their mouths hanging open. Taeyeon turned to her family again.

‘Errr..Mom, dad! I know this was meant to be a family celebration as all the other years, but I would like to introduce someone to you, someone that I’d like you to treat like family from now on. You already know him, probably not that well, but this is my boyfriend, Byun Baekhyun.’

‘Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Kim!’ he says and he hands Taeyeon’s mom a bouquet of white lilies.

‘Thank you, Baekhyun-ah!’ she says, still reading a little shock in her words.

Then, he extends his hands and salutes Mr. Kim who was looking at him encouraging and finally, he turned to Taeyeon and gave her a big bouquet of red roses. She took them and admired their beauty as every single person in the room stared at her pretty smile.

‘Heyy!!!,’ Ahyeon says all of a sudden ‘I’m here too. What did you bring for me? Where are my flowers, huh?’

‘Ahyeon-ah!’ Taeyeon raises her voice at her immature sister.

‘No, she’s right!’ Baekhyun takes the younger’s part ‘I didn’t bring her flowers, but I’ve bought her something else instead.’

Baekhyun opened the present bag and handed Ahyeon a huge box of Belgian pralines.

‘Not bad!’ the girl says when she yanks it rapidly, making Baekhyun let out a chuckle.

Those chocolate bars are probably the most expensive of their kind, obviously Ahyeon would have liked them. Baekhyun knew he has to make a good impression, even to Taeyeon’s younger sister.

They all sit down again. Taeyeon and Baekhyun were facing Mr. and Mrs. Kim while Ahyeon was on the side, closer to her parents.

‘So…’ the mother broke the increasingly awkward moment ‘You two were together that day when we met in Taeyeon’s cabin…’

‘Yes!’ Taeyeon clarifies ‘But we weren’t been dating for that long, so I didn’t want to tell you about it right there.’

‘Your mother and I found it suspicious too, but we didn’t think about it too deeply because we were aware of your fake dating scandal and SM’s promotional tactics.’

‘I see…’

‘For how long have you been dating?’ the mother asks again.

‘Since Halloween.’ Baekhyun responds this time.

‘That makes it for about half a year, right?’ Taeyeon completes him.

‘Yeah!’ he responds and as they were cutely interacting with each other.

The parents looked at them surprised again, they didn’t even suspect their daughter was dating. And it was for quite some time…I guess she really doesn’t tell them about everything as they used to believe.

‘Where are you from, Baekhyun-ah?’ the mom asks.

‘Bucheon. It’s a very small town not that far from Seoul. Like 60 km from here?’

‘Tell us more about you and your family. What are your parents’ jobs?’

Baekhyun got a little nervous, her mother just started to do a serious background check on him, it’s not like he didn’t expect it, actually Taeyeon already warned him that her mother will probably ‘interview’ him, but he was still feeling kind of stressed. He felt Taeyeon taking his hand into hers under the table to give him courage. This is some annoying conventional they have to go through, their relationship faced much bigger obstacles than this.

‘My mom is working in a company named…’

‘Blah blah blah…this talk is so boring!’ Ahyeon interrupts ‘Baekhyun, tell us about your concert series in the US better!’

The parents eye-sides Ahyeon, but the young couple was rather feeling relived.

‘It was so fun, even if my English level is under the ground so I didn’t get what those people were talking about most of the time! We’ve also went to see some interesting things in New York!’

‘We’re curious, Taeyeon said she’s going to take us there too, but she never kept her promise!’ the dad says.

‘I WILL take you there this summer!’

‘Yeah, you’ve said that every year since 2011 and it didn’t happen!’ the mom fires back.

‘I was busy, ok? But I’ll do my best this year, I promise!’

‘I don’t think you’re going to keep it, but if we really go there, take me to the fair you went with Tiffany and Seohyun in ‘The TTS’!’ Ahyeon says.

‘Oh! I’ve been there too! They make godly cotton candy.’ Baekhyun says.

‘This is making me hungry! And I want something sweet!’ Ahyeon says and starts to unwrap the chocolate box.

‘Yah!’ the mother says, ‘We’re going to order food, you can’t eat chocolate right now!’

‘WAEEEE!!?’ Ahyeon says and pouts.

Everybody in room laughed at her cuteness.

*

It was late when they thought of leaving the restaurant. They were paying their goodbye at the exit door as they feared to go outside all together. Kim Family was dressed and ready to go, they have 2 hours of driving until reaching home in Jeonju.

‘Good-bye, Mr. and Mrs. Kim! Bye Ahyeon-ah!’ Baekhyun says respectfully.

‘Bye, everyone! I’ll  come back home as soon as I have a little free time, I promise!’

The parents respond heartfully and exit the door to go to their car. The mom turns around for a second and attempts to see Baekhyun pinching Taeyeon’s side (probably thinking there is nobody seeing them)  and how she slaps his shoulder being all smiley.

‘I can’t believe that Byun Baekhyun kid is actually dating our daughter.’ The mother says when they were driving home. It was dark night outside and everybody was feeling dizzy.

‘What’s up, dear? I like him.’ the father responds as he was managing the wheel,’ I’ve grew fond of him since that baseball game and he was really likeable today too.’

‘I know, but I’ve wanted something bigger for her…’

‘MOM!’ Ahyeon screams from the backseat.’ For the hundredth time, she won’t date Youhan. I know you like him, but she doesn’t. She likes Baekhyun!’

‘Baekhyun really does look like he makes her happy.’ The mom says.

‘SEE? Was it that hard to admit?’

‘No. But still I wanted something bigger for her!’

‘Just one more meeting with him and you’ll be sold. I guarantee that!’

‘Seems like you know him better than we do.’ The dad says.

‘Yeah, tell us what you know!’ the mom says quickly.

‘I don’t know much either, but I trust Taeyeon unnie. If she’s happy then he must be doing something right!’

*

Taeyeon and Baekhyun enter her room after having a small chat with Sunny and Tiffany who were also in the house. Both of them were very tired. Who knew that just sitting down and talking will exhaust you that much? Sometimes it’s when you do nothing you feel the most tired.

They showered as quickly as they could and ended this hectic day cuddling in bed.

‘Today was so nerve wrecking for me.’ Baekhyun said.

‘I know, but you did well. Dad and Ahyean already like you a lot. Mom seems to be the problem, she is acting hard to get right now, but from the signs of it, it won’t take long until she’ll warm up to you.’ She said as she run her fingers through his black hairs.

‘I am happy to hear that, I really want to have a good relationship with your family!’

‘They are good people, I hope they’ll see your sincerity!’

‘What about you meeting my family for my birthday next?’ he proposes.

Baekhyun noticed Taeyeon shying out at his words. He kind of expected that.

‘B, you are good in social situations, but I am mess.  I make bad first impressions on people and I am not confident they’ll like me. Seriously…’

‘Do you really believe all the crap haters write on Instagram about you?  You are a likable person, Taeng, and my parents will love you as much as I do. I am sure of that!’ He said as he is caressing her cheek.

‘I don’t know…we’ll talk about this thing later. But until then, tell me what would you like for your birthday. I at making presents.’

‘Nothing really, there is nothing material I cave for and I can’t have. All I wish is everyone to keep on being healthy and successful in what they are doing.’

‘You sure you don’t want anything?’

He stays silent for a second to think.

 ‘I kind of want something tho.’ he finally says.

Taeyeon had an idea about what he is going to say judging from the smirk that formed on his lips.

‘What?’ she asks.

‘A really y dance from my girlfriend, just for my eyes to see…’

‘Well, good luck in finding that one girlfriend then.’ She says sarcastically.

‘Come on, I know you know how to shake your hips!’

‘You looked at my hips, what kind of ert!’ she raised her voice.

‘Yah, just how many times did you shake your hips in choregrapies and just how many times I happened to watch you, both on and off stage?’

‘Still, not my fault that YOU have been staring at them.’

‘Yeah, that’s right, my fault!’ he says and then he wraps his hand around her waist and drags her closer to his body.

‘I hope you’ve had a good time for your birthday this year!’ he changes the subject.

‘I did because I’ve had all of you that I love beside me. The fact that you were able to come over makes it even better. Usually at times like these when I part with my family, I feel my heart being empty. Thank you for being here, Baekhyun! I am really really thankful!’

‘I am glad that I can at least do this for you!’

The room gets silent after his words.

‘Let’s go for a long time, B!’ she murmurs as she closes her eyes to sleep and interwines thier fingers. 

He kisses her forehead as a response.